BV  4501 

.H23 

1905 

Hall,  A. 

C.  A 

.  1847- 

-1930. 

The  relations 

of  faith 

and 

life 

THE  RELATIONS  OF  FAITH  AND  LIFE 


THE   BEDELL  LECTURES 
1905 


By  the  same  Author 

Christ's  Temptation  and  Ours.  The  Baldwin  Lectures, 
1896. 

The  Use  of  Holy  Scripture  in  the  Worship  of  the 
Church.     The  Paddock  Lectures,  1903. 

The  Christian  Doctrine  of  Prayer.  The  Bohlen  Lec- 
tures, 1904. 

Confirmation.    In  the  Oxford  Library  of  Practical  Theology. 

The  Virgin  Mother.  Addresses  on  the  Life  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary  as  told  in  the  Gospels.  With  an  Appended 
Essay  on  the  Virgin  Birth  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Church's  Discipline  Concerning  Marriage  and 
Divorce.     A  charge.      1896. 

Marriage  with  Relatives.     A  charge.      1901. 

Ecclesiastical  Discipline.     A  charge.      1904. 


THE 

RELATIONS   OF   FAITH 
AND  LIFE 


THE   BEDELL   LECTURES 

1905 


BY 

THE  RT.  REV.  A.  C.  a}  HALL,  D.D  ,  LL.D. 

BISHOP    OF    VERMONT 


LONGMANS,  GREEN,  AND  CO. 

91  AND  93  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK 

LONDON   AND    BOMBAY 

1905 


Copyright,  1905 
By  Longmans,  Green,  and  Co. 


FROM  THE  COMMUNICATION  OF  THE 
FOUNDERS  OF  THE  BEDELL 
LECTURESHIP 

June  20,  1880. 

Gentlemen:  We  have  consecrated  and  set  apart  for 
the  service  of  God  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars,  to  be 
devoted  to  the  establishment  of  a  lecture  or  lectures  in  the 
Institutions  at  Gambler  on  the  Evidences  of  Natural  and 
Revealed  Religion,  or  the  Relations  of  Science  and  Re- 
ligion. 

We  ask  permission  of  the  Trustees  to  establish  the  lec- 
ture immediately,  with  the  following  provisions. 

The  lecture  or  lectures  shall  be  delivered  biennially  on 
Founders'  Day  (if  such  a  day  shall  be  established)  or  other 
appropriate  time.  During  our  lifetime,  or  the  lifetime  of 
either  of  us,  the  nomination  of  the  lectureship  shall  rest 
with  us. 

The  interest  for  two  years  on  the  fund,  less  the  sum 
necessary  to  pay  for  the  publication,  shall  be  paid  to  the 
Lecturer. 

The  Lecturer  shall  also  have  one-half  of  the  net  profits 
of  the  publication  during  the  first  two  years  after  the  date 
of  publication.  All  other  profits  shall  be  the  profits  of  the 
Board,  and  shall  be  added  to  the  capital  of  the  lecture- 
ship. 

We  express  our  preference  that  the  lecture  or  lectures 
shall  be  delivered  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  if  such 
building  be  in  existence;  and  shall  be  delivered  in  the 
presence  of  all  the  members  of  the  Institutions  under  the 
authority  of  the  Board. 


vi  BEDELL  LECTURESHIP 

We  ask  that  the  day  on  which  the  lecture,  or  the  first  of 
each  series  of  lectures,  shall  be  delivered  shall  be  a  holiday. 
We  wish  that  the  nomination  to  this  lectureship  shall  be 
restricted  by  no  other  consideration  than  the  ability  of  the 
appointee  to  discharge  the  duty  to  the  highest  glory  of  God 
in  the  completest  presentation  of  the  subject. 

We  desire  that  the  lecture  shall  be  published  in  uniform 
shape  and  that  a  copy  of  each  shall  be  placed  in  the 
libraries  of  Bexley  Hall,  Kenyon  College,  and  of  the 
Philomathean  and  Nu  Kappa  Pi  Society. 

Asking  the  favorable  consideration  of  the  Trustees, 
We  remain,  with  respect, 

G.  T.  Bedell, 
Julia  Bedell. 

To  the  Trustees  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the 
Diocese  oj  Ohio  and  Kenyon  College. 


LIST  OF  PREVIOUS  LECTURES  ON  THE  BEDELL 
FOUNDATION 

1881.  The  World's  Witness  to  Christ,  by  the  Rt. 
Rev.  John  Williams,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  Connecticut. 

1883.  Revealed  Religion  in  Relation  to  the 
Moral  Being  of  God,  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Henry  Cotterill, 
D.D.,  Bishop  of  Edinburgh. 

1885.  The  World  and  the  Logos,  by  the  Rt.  Rev. 
Hugh  Miller  Thompson,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  Mississippi. 

1887.  The  Religious  Aspect  of  Evolution,  by  the 
Rev.  James  McCosh,  D.D.,  President  of  Princeton  College. 

1889.  The  Historical  Christ  the  Moral  Power  of 
History,  by  the  Rev.  David  H.  Greer,  D.D.,  Rector  of 
St.  Bartholomew's  Church,  New  York. 

1891.  Holy  Writ  and  Modern  Thought,  by  the  Rt. 
Rev.  Arthur  Cleveland  Coxe,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  Western 
New  York. 

1893.  The  Witness  of  the  American  Church  to 
Pure  Christianity,  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  William  A.  Leonard, 
D.D.,  Bishop  of  Ohio. 

1895.  The  Reasonableness  of  Prayer,  by  the  Rt. 
Rev.  Boyd  Vincent,  S.T.D.,  Bishop  Coadjutor  of  Southern 
Ohio. 

1897.  A  National  Church,  by  the  Rev.  W.  R.  Hunt- 
ington, D.D.,  Rector  of  Grace  Church,  New  York. 

1899.  Three  Guardians  of  Supernatural  Re- 
ligion, by  the  Rev.  Morgan  Dix,  D.D.,  Rector  of  Trinity 
Church,  New  York. 

1901.  Man,  Men,  and  their  Master,  by  the  Rt.  Rev. 
H.  C.  Potter,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  New  York. 

1903.  Evidence,  Experience,  Influence,  by  the  Rt. 
Rev.  W.  C.  Doane,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  Albany. 


CONTENTS 

LECTURE  I. 
THE  EFFECT  OF  FAITH  ON  LIFE 

PAGE 

I.  Knowledge,  the  recognition  of  facts,  gives  power      3 
This  is  true  in  every  department  of  life 
The  mistaking  of  fancies  for  facts  must  be 

disastrous 5 

Faith  is,  primarily,  a  kind  of  knowledge       .     .       5 
A  knowledge  of  spiritual  truths 
based  on  revelation 

It  gives  moral  power 6 

This  the   constant  representation  of  N.  T. 
writers 

II.  A  priori  consideration:    The  effect  which  the 

great  truths  of  the  Christian  faith  must  have  .  7 

belief  in  God 8 

Christ 10 

the  Holy  Spirit 15 

HI.  A   posteriori  consideration:    The  result  of  the 

Christian  faith  in  the  world 17 

IV.  Objections  urged  and  answered 

1.  On  behalf  of  non-Christian  religions  .     .  19 
The  moral  failures  of  Hinduism     .     .  20 
Buddhism    .     .  23 
Confucianism  .  29 
Mohammedan- 
ism     ...  29 


X  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

IV.  Objections  urged  and  answered  (Continued) 

Their  relation  to  the  Truth  ....     32 

2.  The  comparative  faihire  of  Christianity     34 

How  this  is  to  be  accounted  for 

3.  May  not  morals  be  taught  without  Chris- 

tian doctrine  ? 35 

Necessary  and  actual  failure  of  such 

attempts 37 

The  need  of  religious  standards  and 

sanctions 42 

V.  Consequent  duties  to  our  faith 43 

1.  To  think  about  it 

2.  To  act  upon  it 

3.  To  spread  it 


LECTURE  II. 

THE  EFFECT  OF  LIFE  ON  FAITH 

I.  Faith  in  the  N.  T.  not  merely  intellectual  ...  49 
Intellectual  recognition  must  precede  moral 

self -surrender 51 

And  presupposes  moral  faithfulness  ...  51 

II.  1.  Moral  qualities  required  in  the  quest  of  any 

truth 52 

2.  Additional  necessity  for  the  recognition  of  re- 

ligious truth,  because  of  the  demands  it 
makes  on  conduct 53 

3.  A    moral    and    spiritual     affinity   required, 

especially  for  knowledge  of  a  person     .     .     59 

4.  Spiritual  powers  of  perception  must  be  culti- 

vated     62 


CONTENTS  xi 

PAGfi 

III.  Thus  is  explained  the  importance  attributed  to 

faith  in  the  N.  T 66 

It  is  a  test  of  character.     Every  coming  of 

Christ  involves  a  y-ijifn^ 
This    specially  emphasized    in    St.   John's 

writings 68 

Historically  illustrated  in  the  Synoptic  Gos- 
pels and  the  Acts 72 

IV.  Three  practical  hints: 

1.  The  loss  of  faith  may  be  due  to  a  lower- 

ing of  life 73 

2.  In  seasons  of  doubt  care  must  be  taken 

to  remove  moral  obstacles  to  faith.     .     75 

3.  In  w^inning  others  to  the  faith,  we  must 

be  constructive,  helping  them  to  be 
true  to  all  they  know 76 


NOTES. 

A.  Intimate  connexion  between  Faith  and   Morals  in  Chris- 
tianity, p.  81. 

B.  Obstacles  to  commercial  development  in  India,  p.  83. 

C.  Use  of  -tarebr^  in  N.T.,  p.  84. 

D.  Use  of  -i(TTt^  and  "^  ruffzi--,  p.  86. 

E.  J.  S.  Mill  on  Moral  Sources  of  Erroneous  Opinion,  p. 

87. 

F.  Inward  Witness  to  the  Truth  of  the  Gospel,  p.  88. 

G.  Lecky  on  Intuitive  Moral  Perceptions,  p.  89. 


I 

THE  EFFECT  OF  FAITH  ON  LIFE 


LECTURE  I 

THE   EFFECT   OF   FAITH   ON   LIFE 

These  lectures,  which  it  is  my  privilege  this  year 
to  deliver,  are  intended  by  the  direction  of  the 
founders  to  deal  with  the  Evidences  of  Natural 
and  Revealed  Religion.  The  special  subject  which 
I  propose  to  treat,  "The  Relations  of  Faith  and 
Life,"  will,  I  trust,  be  regarded  as  fairly  coming 
under  this  head.  Christianity  gives  evidence  of  its 
truth  in  the  life  which  it  produces.  This  will  largely 
be  the  subject  of  our  first  lecture,  concerning  "  The 
effect  of  Faith  on  Life";  while  the  second,  "The 
effect  of  Life  on  Faith,"  will  be  concerned  with  the 
moral  preparation  which  is  necessary  for  the  appre- 
ciation of  any  evidences  adduced  in  support  of  a 
revelation. 

We  have  a  common  saying,  the  truth  of  which  is 
generally  recognized,  "Knowledge  is  power."  This 
is  true  in  every  department  of  life.  Take  a  few 
instances.  The  farmer  must  know  the  properties  of 
the  soil  he  would  cultivate,  and  something  of  the 
laws  of  chemistry  and  of  vegetable  life,  in  order  to 

3 


4  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

gain  plentiful  crops.  The  higher  mechanic  requires 
some  knowledge  of  geometry  and  hydraulics  and 
electricity.  This  knowledge  enables  him  to  throw 
a  bridge  across  the  chasm,  or  to  encircle  the  worid 
with  means  of  almost  instantaneous  communica- 
tion. Knowledge  is  power.  Ignorance  is  helpless- 
ness. In  order  to  heal  or  mend  the  ills  of  the 
human  body  the  physician  or  surgeon  must  have 
gained  a  knowledge  of  anatomy,  and  of  the  power 
and  working  of  drugs.  Call  to  mind  for  a  moment 
the  advance  in  the  possibilities  of  surgery  in  our 
own  day  due  to  the  discoveries  of  Pasteur  and  of 
Lister  with  regard  to  germs  of  disease  and  to  anti- 
septic treatment.  Are  we  not  even  now  anxiously 
looking  for  possible  power  against  that  dread  dis- 
ease of  cancer  by  means  of  a  further  knowledge  of 
the  properties  of  radium  and  kindred  substances, 
or  through  hitherto  unknown  uses  of  electricity? 
A  merchant's  success  is  largely  based  on  his  knowl- 
edge of  values,  immediate  and  prospective,  of 
sources  of  supply  and  opportunities  for  sale.  Early 
information,  I  take  it,  is  essential  on  exchange. 
For  navigation  a  knowledge  of  currents,  shoals,  and 
winds  is  indispensable.  The  lore  of  chart  and 
compass  gives  power  to  the  seaman  to  direct  his 
cruise  aright  over  the  trackless  ocean.  The  pleader 
in  court  or  forum  must  not  only  be  acquainted  with 
the  facts  he  marshals;   his  power  largely  depends 


THE  EFFECT  OF  FAITH  ON   LIFE         6 

on  his  knowledge  (instinctive  it  may  be)  of  motives 
which  are  at  work  in  those  whom  he  addresses,  and 
of  the  means  by  which  these  may  be  appealed  to. 

You  will  not  fail  to  note  that  in  any  or  all  of  these 
departments  erroneous  information,  the  mistaking 
of  fancies  for  facts,  must  be  disastrous.  Action 
based  upon  theories  which  are  found  not  to  corres- 
pond with  facts  cannot  but  have  injurious  effects; 
and  this  result  is  not  generally  mitigated  by  the 
good  faith,  as  we  call  it,  of  a  person's  mistake. 
You  will  not  less  surely  risk  your  money  if  you  in- 
vest it  in  some  unsound  scheme,  because  you  were 
fully  persuaded  that  the  speculation  would  prove 
enormously  advantageous. 

We  recognize  then  that  knowledge,  the  recogni- 
tion of  facts,  gives  power.  Now  Faith  is  a  kind  of 
knowledge.  Of  the  other  elements  contained  in 
faith  more  will  be  said  in  the  next  lecture;  but 
whatever  else  is  involved  in  the  idea  of  faith,  all  is 
certainly  based  on  belief.  Faith  is  the  recognition 
of  spiritual  truths;  concerning  God,  His  being  and 
character;  concerning  man,  his  origin  and  destiny, 
the  true  standard  of  his  life,  his  means  of  approach- 
ing his  Maker.  It  is  a  knowledge  of  spiritual  facts, 
which  could  not  be  discovered  with  certainty  by 
man's  unaided  reason.  It  is  based  on  a  revelation 
from  God,  on  His  unfolding  of  great  unseen  reali- 


6  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

ties.  God's  revelation  is  given  (1)  by  Divine 
prompting  in  our  own  heart  and  conscience,  (2) 
through  those  whom  He  raises  up  for  the  purpose 
of  receiving  and  conveying  to  others  intimations  of 
His  mind  and  will,  and  (3)  chiefly  through  or  in  His 
incarnate  Son,  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  But,  while 
based  on  revelation,  faith — like  (mark  you)  all  true 
knowledge —  is  appropriated  and  certified  by  ex- 
perience, the  experience  of  spiritual  life. 

Faith  then  is  a  kind  of  knowledge,  and  this  knowl- 
edge gives  power,  moral  power.  It  furnishes  mo- 
tives, sanctions,  restraints  for  conduct.  This  is  the 
light  in  which  faith  is  persistently  treated  by  writers 
of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures.  "This  is  the 
victory,"  St.  John  declares,  "which  overcame  the 
world,  even  our  faith.  Who  is  he  that  overcometh 
the  world  save  he  that  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the 
Son  of  God?"^  In  St.  Paul's  description  of  the 
spiritual  armour  in  which  the  Christian  must  array 
himself,  faith  is  represented  by  a  shield  wherewith 
fiery  darts  of  temptation  are  repelled.^  Using  an- 
other figure,  St.  Jude  speaks  of  our  most  holy  faith 

^  1  John  V.  4,  5. 

^  Eph.  vi.  16.  It  matters  little  whether  here  or  in  several  other 
passages  faith  is  to  be  understood  of  that  which  is  believed,  the 
substance  of  the  Christian  revelation,  our  creed,  or  of  our  belief 
therein.  Most  frequently  v  rriaTic  stands  for  the  faith,  the  truth 
made  known  to  and  accepted  by  the  Christian  Church.  See  Note 
D.  p.  86. 


THE   EFFECT   OF   FAITH  ON   LIFE  7 

as  the  foundation  on  which  the  superstructure  of  a 
good  and  virtuous  Hfe  is  to  be  built  up.^  St.  Peter 
bids  Christians  resist,  or  stand  up  to,  their  spiritual 
foe  ''steadfast  in  the  faith,"  which  may  mean 
strengthened  by  their  faith. ^  St.  James  speaks  of 
the  implanted  word  of  truth,  when  received  with 
meekness,  being  able  to  save  the  soul,  our  life  being 
illuminated  and  ordered  according  to  God*s  will.^ 
The  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  I  need 
not  remind  you,  developes  at  length  the  power  of 
faith,  its  effect  on  life.  By  faith,  realizing  things 
hoped  for  and  making  venture  of  things  not  seen, 
God's  servants  of  old  spurned  the  allurements  and 
braved  the  losses  and  reproaches  of  the  world. 
They  endured  as  beholding  Him  who  to  the  eye  of 
sense  is  invisible.^ 

Must  not  this  be  so?  Take  the  great  truths  of 
the  Christian  faith,  those  which  are  marked  off  in 
the  Church  Catechism  (following  the  Baptismal 
commission^)  as  "chief"  even  among  the  articles  of 

^  Jude  20. 

^  1  Peter  v.  9.     ^  avriaTTfre  crepeol  ry  nioTei. 

»Heb.  xi. 

^  James  i.  18,21. 

*  Matt,  xxviii.  19.  On  this  passage  and  its  authority  see  Dr. 
Sanday's  article,  "God,"  in  Hastings's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible^ 
vol.  ii,  pp.  213,  214,  and  an  article  in  The  Journal  of  Theological 
Studies  for  Sept.,  1905,  "The  Lord's  command  to  baptize,"  by 
Dr.  Chase  (now  Bishop  of  Ely),  who  concludes  an  exhaustive 


8  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

the  Apostles'  Creed — not  as  excluding,  but  because 
rightly  understood  they  implicitly  include,  the  rest. 
We  "  chiefly  learn  to  believe  "  in  God,  in  Christ  His 
incarnate  Son,  and  in  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 

1.  What  do  we  mean  by  the  first  article  of  our 
creed,  "  I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker 
of  heaven  and  earth  "  ?  This  certainly,  and  at  any 
rate:  We  acknov^^ledge  one  supreme  being,  a  spir- 
itual person,  having  powers  of  thought  and  affection 
and  freedom  of  action,  such  as  we  associate  with 
our  minds  and  hearts  and  wills,  of  which  our  powers 
of  thought  and  feeling  and  choice  are  a  reflection; 
"the  living  God,"  who  intervenes  and  rules  and 
judges  in  the  affairs  of  men;  a  moral  being,  whose 
action  is  characterized  not  merely  by  almighty 
power  but  by  infinite  wisdom  and  perfect  love.* 

examination  of  the  question  by  saying,  "The  whole  evidence — 
such  I  believe  must  be  the  verdict  of  scientific  criticism —  estab- 
lishes without  a  shadow  of  doubt  or  uncertainty  the  genuineness 
of  Matt,  xxviii.  19."    (p.  499.) 

*  "The  first  great  peculiarity  of  the  theology  of  Moses  was  this, 
that  it  taught  that  the  Infinite  and  Supreme  Being,  who  in  most 
religions  was  the  hidden  God,  was  to  the  Jews  the  revealed  and 
ever-present  God,  the  object  of  worship,  obedience,  trust  and 
love." — James  Freeman  Clark,  Ten  Great  Religions  of  the  World, 
vol.  I,  p.  414.  Comp.  vol.  II,  p.  104.  "If  the  deity  is  a  moral 
being,  and  has  a  moral  character,  actually  loving  goodness  and 
alien  from  evil,  then  the  foundation  of  duty  is  not  in  the  arbitrary 
will,  but  in  the  essential  nature  of  God.  Right  is  right,  not  be- 
cause God  commands  it,  but  He  commands  it  because  it  is  right. 
Goodness  does  not  consist  in  obedience  to  the  divine  will,  but  in 
cooformity  to  the  divine  charaxrter." 


THE  EFFECT  OF   FAITH   ON   LIFE  9 

This  is  the  first  article  of  the  Christian  beHef.  The 
real  acceptance  of  this  truth  must  make  a  difference 
in  the  view  taken  of  the  world  and  of  life.  How 
different  this  conception  from  the  heathen  notion 
of  many  rival  deities,  each  with  his  or  her  own 
limited  sphere  of  influence,  with  antagonistic  inter- 
ests, with  their  favourite  nations  or  individuals!^ 
How  different  again  from  the  conception  of  some 
modern  thinkers  of  "  the  Eternal — not  ourselves — 
that  makes  for  righteousness,"  ^  or  from  that  which 
identifies  God  with  the  living  force  which  animates 
all  creation,  denying  to  Him  any  separate  personal 
existence,^  or  again  from  the  DuaHsm  of  many 
Eastern  systems !  *  It  is  the  Christian  belief  **  in 
One  God  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of  Heaven 
and  earth,  and  of  all  things  visible  and  invisible," 

*  Compare  e.q.  the  Scriptural  accounts  (there  are  probably  two 
woven  together)  of  the  Deluge  with  the  Chaldee  story.  The  poly- 
theism of  the  older  story,  with  its  representation  of  the  disaster  as 
due  to  the  whimsical  caprice  of  rival  deities,  is  replaced  by  a  repre- 
sentation in  Genesis  of  the  Flood  as  a  manifestation  of  the  anger 
of  the  holy  Creator  at  the  corruption  of  mankind.  See  Bishop  H. 
E.  Ryle,  The  early  narratives  of  Genesis,  p.  115. 

*  Matthew  Arnold,  God  and  the  Bible,  p.  24. 

^  See  Archbishop  Tait  on  "Modern  Theism  like  the  old  Deism, 
a  setting  up  of  what  used  to  be  called  natural  religion  in  the  place 
of  revealed."     The  Church  of  the  Ftdure,  pp.  68,  sq. 

^Whatever  doctrine  of  evil  spirits,  as  of  good,  was  taught  in 
Christianity,  any  dualistic  idea  was  excluded  by  the  first  article  of 
the  creed,  belief  in  One  supreme  God,  Creator,  and  Ruler  of  all 
things  in  heaven  and  earth,  visible  and  invisible. 


10  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

which  assures  us  of  the  ultimate  triumph  of  right, 
which  gives  to  us  a  real  seose  of  responsibility  to 
the  personal  Source  and  Author  of  our  being;  it  is 
this  belief  which  warrants  prayer  and  makes  it 
reasonable/  which  enables  us  to  cast  all  our  anxiety 
upon  Him,  since  we  know  He  has  a  care  for  us;^ 
which  gives  us  a  confidence  amid  difficulties  and 
sorrows  that  nothing  can  happen  without  His  per- 
mission (however  it  may  be  at  variance  with  His 
original  purpose),  and  that  everything  that  He 
allows  He  regulates,  and  will  overrule  for  His  ser- 
vants' good  and  for  the  ultimate  accomplishment  of 
His  purposes.^  Such  is  the  effect  on  life  of  the 
first  great  truth  of  Christian  faith. 

2.  We  believe  not  only  in  God,  but  in  Jesus 
Christ,  His  incarnate  Son.  This  belief — ^the  historic 
faith  of  the  Christian  Church,  as  expressed  or 
formulated  in  the  Nicene  Creed— marks  a  further 
advance  in  moral  power  as  in  religious  knowledge. 
For  in  Christ  we  have  a  two-fold  revelation,  (1)  of 

*  The  author  may  venture  to  refer  to  his  Bohlen  Lectures  on 
The  Christian  Doctrine  of  Prayer,  as  guarding  against  common 
misconceptions  of  the  efficacy  of  prayer,  as  if  it  were  in  mechanical 
fashion  to  bring  about  the  accomplishment  of  our  purposes,  rather 
than  offered  in  perfect  submission  to  God's  wise  and  loving  pur- 
poses, for  the  accomplishment  of  His  will. 

2  1  Pet.  V.  7. 

^  For  the  persistent  presentation  of  this  truth  in  the  account  of 
our  Lord's  Passion,  see  Matt.  xxvi.  53,  Luke  xxii.  53,  John  xviii. 
11,  xix.  11,  Acts  ii.  23,  iv.  28,  Rom.  viii.  28. 


THE   EFFECT   OF   FAITH   ON   LIFE        11 

what  God  is,  and  (2)  of  what  man,  made  in  God's 
image,  should  be. 

(1)  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time.  The 
only  begotten  Son  hath  made  Him  known. ^  In 
Christ  the  ^personal  being  of  God  is  made  plain  ;^ 
and  His  moral  character,  loving  and  loveable,  is 
fully  disclosed.  By  the  incarnate  Word,  the  di- 
vine perfections  are  translated  into  language  we 
can  understand,  the  language  of  human  conduct. 
"He  that  hath  seen  me,"  Christ  declared,  *'hath 
[in  this  sense]  seen  the  Father."  ^  Thus  we  are 
delivered  from  false  conceptions  of  the  supreme 
being,  as  of  a  harsh  and  distant  or  unsympathetic 
master.  He  is  our  "Father,"  to  whom  tvc  are  to 
draw  near  with  confidence,  while  with  reverence, 
not  merely  for  His  greatness  but  for  His  goodness. 
What  Jesus  was,  God  is,  in  His  absolute  holiness, 
in  His  hatred  for  sin  and  His  pity  for  the  sinner, 
in  His  ready  compassion  for  all  human  needs  and 
sorrows.  What  assurance  the  Incarnation  gives  of 
God's  intelligent  sympathy  in  all  our  experiences 
of  joy  and  sorrow,  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave! 
It  is  the  incarnate  Son  of  God,  condescending  to 
our  weakness,  wrestling  with  our  temptations,  who 


^  John  i.  18;  comp.  1  Tim.  vi.  16. 

^  See  Liddon's  Bampton  Lectures,  viii.  pp.  452-458  (10th  ed). 
^  John  xiv.  9;  comp.  2  Cor.  iv.  6.  See  St.  Chrysostom,  Homilies 
on  St.  John,  Ixxiv. 


12  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

calls  forth  the  enthusiastic  personal  devotion  that  is 
a  distinct  characteristic  of  the  Christian  religion.* 

(2)  And  what  Jesus  was,  man  should  be.  Taking 
man's  nature  in  its  integrity  He  shows  our  real  dignity, 
the  true  standard  of  our  life.  What  ground  we  have 
for  respect  for  human  nature  in  ourselves  and  in 
others,  when  we  see  it  thus  hallowed  by  the  Incarna- 
tion and  used  by  the  incarnate  Son,  what  a  motive  to 
purify  ourselves,  in  body,  mind,  and  heart,  even  as 
He  is  pure!^  By  Christ's  life,  as  in  an  object  lesson, 
we  are  taught  in  what  man's  worth  consists,  not  in 
rank  or  wealth  or  any  external  possession,  but  in 
his  own  moral  character;  that  he  is  great  not  in 
proportion  to  what  he  can  gather  round  himself, 
but  as  he  gives  forth  to  others.^     In  the  Passion  of 

^  Compare  Lecky's  History  of  European  Morals,  vol.  II,  p.  9. 
"The  Platonist  exhorted  men  to  imitate  God,  the  Stoic  to  follow 
reason,  the  Christian  to  the  love  of  Christ.  ...  It  was  reserved 
for  Christianity  to  present  to  the  world  an  ideal  character,  which 
through  all  the  changes  of  eighteen  centmdes  has  inspired  the 
hearts  of  men  with  an  impassioned  love,  has  shown  itself  capable 
of  acting  on  all  ages,  nations,  temperaments,  and  conditions,  has 
been  not  only  the  highest  pattern  of  virtue  but  the  strongest  incen- 
tive to  its  practice,  and  has  exercised  so  deep  an  influence  that  it 
may  be  truly  said  that  the  simple  record  of  three  short  years  of 
active  life  has  done  more  to  regenerate  and  to  soften  mankind  than 
all  the  disquisitions  of  philosophers  and  all  the  exhortations  of 
moralists." 

*  1  John  iii.  3.  ekeIvoc  points  to  Christ  as  our  illustrious  Pat- 
tern and  Representative. 

^Matt.  XX.  25-28.    The  contrast  between  the  fundamental 


THE   EFFECT   OF   FAITH   ON   LIFE        13 

the  incarnate  Son  we  are  taught  that  in  a  disordered 
world  (such  as  we  see  this  to  be)  suffering  and  sor- 
row are  not  of  necessity  marks  of  God's  displeasure, 
as  most  surely  they  do  not  betoken  His  indifference. 
"Son  though  He  was,  yet  learned  He  obedience  by 
the  things  which  He  suffered;  and  having  been 
made  perfect  He  became  unto  all  them  that  obey 
Him  the  author  of  eternal  salvation."^  In  His  Re- 
surrection we  have  a  pledge  that  death  does  not 
end  all;  man's  instinctive  hope  of  survival  is  sanc- 
tioned.^ Life,  and  that  imperishable  and  incor- 
ruptible, is  brought  to  light  by  the  gospel.^     "To 

egoism  of  Paganism  and  the  law  of  love  and  service  in  Christianity 
is  well  drawn  out  in  Schmidt's  Social  Results  of  Early  Christianity 
(translated  by  Thorpe). 

^  Heb.  V.  8,  9;  comp.  ii.  9,  10,  xii.  2  sq. 

^  "The  period  from  b.c.  200  to  a.d.  200,  almost  apart  from  the 
Christian  revejation,  is  instinct  with  the  craving  that  men  shall 
surely  live.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  coming  of  Christ  were  the 
crystallization  of  a  large  and  uncertain  hope  that  permeated  the 
lives  of  thinking  Jew  and  Gentile  alike,  a  hope  that  long  before  it 
became,  or  was  accepted  as,  an  Epiphany  was  a  living  force  in  the 
lives  of  men." — The  Spectator,  July  15,  1905,  in  an  interesting 
article  on  "The  Apocrypha  and  Immortality."  On  the  O.  T. 
hope  of  immortality  and  the  Christian  doctrine  see  Dr.  Liddon's 
sermon  "Immortality"  in  his  University  Sermons,  series  I,  and 
the  Appendix  to  Lecture  V,  in  The  Christian  view  of  God  and  of 
the  World,  by  James  Orr,  where  it  is  contended  that  the  Hebrew 
hope  of  future  life  was  never  limited  to  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
but  involved  a  restoration  of  the  whole  personality,  in  which  the 
body  too  had  a  share. 

^  2  Tim.  i.  10.    See  EUicott  in  loc.  Pastoral  Epistles,  p.  116. 


14  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

death  itself  men  are  still  subject,  but  Christ  has 
removed  its  terrors."  ^  We  are  delivered  from  fear 
of  death,  and  begotten  again  to  a  living  hope.^ 
We  *'look  for  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  the 
life  of  the  world  to  come."  The  Christian  belief 
not  only  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul  but  in  the 
resurrection  of  the  body,  introduces  surely  a  new 
motive  for  purity  and  self-control,  not  merely  that 
the  spirit  may  be  preserved  from  pollution  by  yield- 
ing to  unlawful  or  excessive  indulgence  of  bodily 
appetites  and  passions,  but  that  the  body  itself  may 
be  kept  in  temperance,  soberness,  and  chastity, 
since  it  is  not  to  be  thrown  away  after  a  few  years' 
use,  but  is  to  be  raised  again,  in  however  changed  a 
condition,  to  be  the  companion  and  instrument  of  the 
perfected  soul  in  the  life  of  the  world  to  come.  This 
expectation  is,  of  course,  connected  with  the  belief  in 
the  manifestation  of  God  in  the  flesh,  which  left  no 
part  of  human  nature  in  itself  common  or  unclean.^ 

^  Westcott  on  Heb.  ii.  15.  Comp.  Gore's  Practical  Exposition 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  vol.  II,  Note  E,  "Evolution  and  the 
Christian  Doctrine  of  the  Fall,"  vi,  concerning  death  as  the  pen- 
alty for  sin,  p.  233. 

^1  Pet.  i.  3.  "Christ's  Resurrection  reversed  every  doom  of 
every  kind  of  death,  and  thus  annulled  the  hopelessness  which 
must  settle  down  on  every  one  who  thinks  out  seriously  what  is 
involved  in  the  universal  empire  of  death.  It  was  by  the  faith  in 
the  Resurrection  that  mankind  was  enabled  to  renew  its  youth." 
Hort  in  loc. 

^  Concerning  the  terrible  prevalence  not  only  of  prostitution, 


THE   EFFECT   OF   FAITH   ON   LIFE        15 

3.  We  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost;  not  only  in 
God  above  us,  the  infinite  Creator,  nor  only  in  God 
as  man,  acting  out  God's  life  and  man's  true  life 
before  our  eyes,  but  also  in  God  within  us,  the  in- 
dwelling Spirit,  sent  from  the  Father  by  the  incar- 
nate Son  to  teach  us  His  mind  and  Will,  and  to 
enable  us  to  correspond  therewith;  thus  making  us 
one  by  one  to  share  in  that  freedom  from  bondage 
to  sin  and  error  which  at  the  cost  of  His  life  and 
death  Christ  bought  for  all  men.  Without  this  be- 
lief we  should  indeed  be  powerless,  daunted  by  the 
high  standard  set  before  us,  appalled  by  the  con- 
sciousness of  our  weakness  in  the  face  of  countless 
difficulties.  By  faith  in  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  to  lead  us  gradually  into  all  truth,  to  stamp 
His  likeness  upon  us,  to  make  us  partakers  of  His 
character,  out  of  weakness  we  are  made  strong.  It 
is  not  only  a  law  or  a  perfect  example  that  we  rec- 
ognize in  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  a  power  of  holiness 
that  we  receive  from  the  Spirit  which  He  breathes 
upon   us.^     The    Christian    belief   strengthens   the 

but  of  unnatural  crimes  of  uncleanness,  at  the  height  of  Greek  and 
Roman  civilization,  and  amongst  the  foremost  representatives  of 
heathen  culliire,  see  Dollinger,  The  Gentile  and  the  Jew,  vol.  II, 
pp.  223-246,  and  'il^-^ll.  Comp.  Liddon's  Bampton  Lectures, 
iii,  pp.  142,  143,  with  the  confirmatory  quotations  from  Renan. 
For  the  like  failure  of  other  non-Christian  religions  to  combat 
sensuahty,  see  Christian  Missions  and  Social  Progress,  by  James 
S.  Dennis,  Lectures  11  and  III. 
*  2  Pet.  i.  4,  Rom.  viii.  11,  2  Cor.  xiii.  5. 


16  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

moral  sentiment  by  its  insistence  on  a  supreme 
Ruler  and  Judge;  it  clears  and  elevates  the  moral 
ideas  by  its  manifestation  of  the  ideal  character  in 
the  incarnate  Son;  by  its  recognition  of  the  in- 
dwelling Spirit,  the  life-giver,  it  gives  impulse  to  the 
moral  power/  Thus  the  remaining  articles  of  our 
creed,  in  which  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  traced 
in  detail,  have  all  a  moral  force,  and  provide  an 
inspiration  for  life.  The  Holy  Catholic  Church  is 
the  body  which  He  inhabits,  binding  together  in  a 
true  fellowship — the  Communion  of  Saints — all  the 
individual  members  of  that  collective  society.  It  is 
by  His  operation — the  washing  of  regeneration  and 
renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost — that  we  gain  the  re- 
mission of  sins.^  Thus  we  are  prepared  for  a  joyful 
Resurrection  of  the  body,  and  the  Life  of  the  world 
to  come,  the  full  realization  of  the  life  eternal. 

Must  not  this  be  so  ?  I  asked ;  must  not  faith 
affect  life  ?     And  has  it  not  been  so  ?     Has  not  the 

^On  the  unique  "Power"  of  Christianity,  see  Illingworth, 
Reason  and  Revelation,  p.  153.  "  'Power'  is  the  word  harped 
upon  throughout  the  New  Testament  and  the  Fathers;  power  to 
translate  ideals  into  action;  and  that  not  only  in  the  hearts  of  the 
refined  few,  but  of  the  vulgar  many;  weak  women,  ignorant 
children,  uncultivated  slaves;  power  to  convert  the  grossest  of 
sinners  into  miracles  of  sanctity  and  martyrs  for  their  faith.  It 
was  this  power  which  stirred  society  to  its  depths  and  revolution- 
ized the  world." 

'  Titus  iii.  6. 


THE   EFFECT   OF   FAITH   ON   LIFE        17 

result  and  effect  of  the  Christian  faith  been  to  pro- 
duce a  higher  character,  to  give  a  new  power  to 
human  life?  There  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the 
verdict  of  history  concerning  the  actual  obligations 
of  civilization  to  Christianity.  The  life  and  stand- 
ards of  Christendom,  however  these  may  fall  short 
of  the  life  and  standards  of  Christ,  are  very  different 
from  anything  that  was  found  before  Christ,  or 
that  is  found  to-day  outside  of  Christian  influence. 
As  a  summary  of  the  effects  of  the  Christian  faith 
on  the  world  I  may  quote  the  eloquent  words  of 
Dr.  Liddon  in  his  Bampton  Lectures,  as  appro- 
priate to  thoughts  and  aspirations  in  America  in 
1905,  as  to  those  which  filled  our  minds  when  we 
listened  to  the  lectures  at  Oxford  forty  years  ago.^ 

"Look  at  certain  palpable  effects  of  our  Lord's 
work  which  lie  on  the  very  face  of  human  society. 
If  society,  apart  from  the  Church,  is  more  kindly 
and  humane  than  in  heathen  times,  this  is  due  to 
the  work  of  Christ  on  the  hearts  of  men.  The  era 
of  'humanity'  is  the  era  of  the  Incarnation.  The 
sense  of  human  brotherhood,  the  acknowledgment 
of  the  sacredness  of  human  rights,  the  recognition 
of  that  particular  stock  of  rights  which  appertains 
to  every  human  being,  is  a  creation  of  Christian 
dogma.  It  has  radiated  from  the  heart  of  the 
Christian  Church  into  the  society  of  the  outer 
*  Lect.  iii,  pp.  132,  133.     See  Note  A,  p.  81. 

2 


18  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

world.  Christianity  is  the  power  which  first  gradu- 
ally softened  slavery,  and  is  now  finally  abolishing 
it.  Christianity  has  proclaimed  the  dignity  of 
poverty,  and  has  insisted  upon  the  claims  of  the 
poor,  with  a  success  proportioned  to  the  sincerity 
which  has  welcomed  her  doctrines  among  the  dif- 
ferent peoples  of  Christendom.  The  hospital  is  an 
invention  of  Christian  philanthrophy ;  the  active 
charity  of  the  Church  of  the  fourth  century  forced 
into  the  Greek  language  a  word  for  which  Pagan- 
ism had  no  occasion.  The  degradation  of  woman 
in  the  Pagan  world  has  been  exchanged  for  a  posi- 
tion of  special  privilege  and  honour,  accorded  to  her 
by  the  Christian  nations.  The  sensualism  which 
Pagans  mistook  for  love  has  been  placed  under  the 
ban  of  all  true  Christian  feeling;  and  in  Christen- 
dom, love  is  now  the  purest  of  moral  influences;  it 
is  the  tenderest,  the  noblest,  the  most  refined  of  the 
movements  of  the  soul.  The  old,  the  universal,  the 
natural  feeling  of  bitter  hostility  between  races, 
nations,  and  classes  of  men  is  denounced  by  Chris- 
tianity. The  spread  of  Christian  truth  inevitably 
breaks  down  the  ferocities  of  national  prejudice, 
and  prepares  the  world  for  that  cosmopolitanism 
which,  we  are  told,  is  its  most  probable  future. 
International  law  had  no  real  existence  until  the 
nations  taught  by  Christ  had  begun  to  feel  the 
bond   of   brotherhood.     International   law   is   now 


THE   EFFECT   OF   FAITH   ON   LIFE        19 

each  year  becoming  more  and  more  powerful  in 
regulating  the  affairs  of  the  civilized  world." 

We  see  the  truth  of  Bishop  Creighton's  words, 
"In  all  that  is  good  in  the  world's  energies  we  re- 
cognize the  fruits  of  the  Incarnation,  a  new  concep- 
tion of  humanity,  and  of  its  possibilities, — a  new 
conception  once,  which  has  now  grown  so  old  that 
it  is  accepted  as  natural  and  universal,  and  its  origin 
is  frequently  forgotten."^  And  again:  "The  work 
of  the  early  Church,  in  its  relation  to  society,  was  to 
build  up  again  individual  character,  which  had  been 
enfeebled  by  the  decay  of  religious  sanctions.  It 
was  because  Christianity  made  men,  and  strong 
men,  that  it  took  its  place  in  the  system  of  the 
world."^  "The  test  of  religious  systems,"  says  the 
same  writer,  "is  their  power  of  producing  fruits  in 
individual  character."  ^ 

Here,  in  our  day,  we  encounter  a  claim  put  forth 
on  behalf  of  other  religions.  True,  it  may  be  said, 
that  as  a  matter  of  fact  Christianity  has  had  a  large 

^  The  Church  and  the  Nation,  p.  274. 

2  Ihid.  p.  141. 

^  Ihid.  p.  299.  Compare  Sir  Monier  Williams,  BtuMhism, 
p.  539.  Any  system  "  must  prove  its  title  to  be  called  a  religion  by 
its  regenerating  effect  on  man's  nature;  by  its  influence  on  his 
thoughts,  desires,  passions,  and  feelings ;  by  its  power  of  subduing 
all  his  evil  tendencies;  by  its  ability  to  transform  his  character 
and  assimilate  him  to  the  God  it  reveals." 


20  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

share  in  the  moulding  of  modern  civilization,  at  any 
rate  in  Europe;  but  may  not  this  be  due  to  its 
special  opportunity  ?  Might  not  other  religions  have 
done  as  much,  if  circumstances  had  equally  favored 
them?  Now,  independently  of  the  argument  for 
Christianity  from  the  providential  ordering  of  the 
world,  the  answer  we  must  make  to  such  a  plea  is 
this:  other  Eastern  religions  (with  which  alone  we 
are  here  concerned)  have  not  shown  any  such  re- 
generating power  as  has  been  exerted  by  Chris- 
tianity. 

Certainly  we  would  not  ignore  any  element  of 
truth,  any  elevating  influence,  possessed  by  those 
religions  which  are  sometimes  pressed  upon  us  as 
substitutes  for  Christianity,  equally  good  and  per- 
haps better  suited  for  other  peoples  and  races,  with 
whose  religion  we  are  warned  it  would  be  better  for 
us  not  to  interfere.  Why,  it  is  asked,  should  we 
presume  to  impose  upon  other  races  our  Christian 
religion,  when  they  already  have  systems  such  as 
Hinduism,  Buddhism,  Confucianism,  or  Moham- 
medanism, which  serve  their  purpose  ?  Let  me  say 
a  few  words  about  the  working  and  effect  of  each 
of  these  systems  as  concrete  instances  of  non- 
Christian  religions. 

An  apology  or  plea  for  Hinduism  has  lately  been 
put  forth  under  the  title  of  The  Web  of  Indian  Life^ 
in  which  an  attractive  picture  of  Indian  domestic 


THE   EFFECT  OF   FAITH   ON   LIFE        21 

life  is  drawn  by  the  authoress,  a  convert  from 
Christianity,  whose  central  theological  position  ap- 
parently is  "the  entire  sufficiency  of  any  single 
creed  or  conception  to  lead  the  soul  to  God  as  its 
true  goal."  ^  A  review  of  this  book  in  The  East 
and  the  West  ^  points  to  its  politic  suppression  of  the 
authoress's  glorification  in  other  publications  of 
cults  which  in  reality  are  at  once  simply  polytheistic 
and  hideously  impure.  An  extract  is  given  from  a 
Hindu  newspaper  showing  what  reforming  Hindus 
think  of  this  and  of  Mrs.  Besant's  somewhat  similar 
apology  for  actual  Hinduism.  "When  an  English 
lady  of  decent  culture  professes  to  be  an  admirer  of 
Tantric  mysticism  and  Krishna  worship,  it  behoves 
every  well-wisher  of  the  country  to  tell  her  plainly 
that  sensible  men  do  not  want  her  eloquence  for 
gilding  what  is  rotten.  In  fact,  abomination  wor- 
ship is  the  chief  ingredient  of  modern  Hinduism."^ 
Miss  Noble's  couleur  de  rose  representation  of  Hindu 
domestic  life,  and  especially  of  the  position  of 
women,  is  pronounced  by  those  possessed  of  wide 
experience  and  of  balanced  judgment,  to  be  a  sim- 


*  P.  178. 

2  Jan.  1905,  p.  111. 

^  Krishna  is  the  Hindu  Apollo.  Among  the  sacred  books  of  the 
Hindus,  "the  Tantras  represent  the  perversion  of  the  principle  of 
love  to  polluting  and  degrading  practices  disguised  under  the  name 
of  rehgious  rites." — Monier  WilHams,  Bvddhism,  p.  2. 


22  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

pie  romance/  In  an  extremely  interesting  paper 
on  "The  Moral  Tone  of  India,"'  Dr.  Lefroy, 
Bishop  of  Lahore,  formerly  head  of  the  Cambridge 
Mission  at  Delhi,  lays  stress  on  the  almost  incon- 
ceivable difference  in  moral  tone  in  India  from  that 
which,  amid  all  grievous  shortcomings,  prevails  in 
England.  He  illustrates  this  in  particular  by  "the 
general  want  of  faith  in  man  as  man,  the  want  of 
trust,  whether  of  truthfulness  or  trustworthiness — 
the  atmosphere  of  suspicion  and  mistrust  on  the 
one  hand,  with  their  invariable  correlatives  of  deceit, 
falsehood,  and  untrustworthiness  on  the  other, 
which  so  broods  over  the  land ; "  and  this  he  traces 
in  all  spheres  of  life,  political  and  judicial,  commer- 
cial, social,  and  domestic.  The  effect  of  this  gen- 
eral distrust  in  hindering  commerce  and  limiting  the 
development  of  trade  and  of  the  resources  of  the 
country,  may  specially  appeal  to  us.^ 

Is  not  something  of  this  kind  the  natural,  the 
almost  necessary  effect  of  centuries  of  Pantheistic 
belief .?  If  all  things  are  God,  then  bad  actions  as 
well  as  good  are  divine,  and  the  distinction  be- 
tween   right    and    wrong    disappears.^     Naturally, 

*  For  testimonies  to  the  degradation  of  woman  in  Hinduism,  see 
Dennis,  Christian  Missions  and  Social  Progress,  vol.  I,  p.  106. 

2  The  East  and  the  West,  April,  1903. 

^  See  Note  B,  p.  83. 

'*  J.  Freeman  Clark,  Ten  Great  Religions,  II,  117.  So  far  as 
Buddha  himself  is  the  object  of  divine  worship,  as  would  appear 


THE   EFFECT   OF   FAITH   ON   LIFE        23 

then,  the  Hindu  mind,  while  singularly  pious,  is 
also  singularly  immoral.^  Naturally,  because  all 
but  God  is  illusion,  and  its  God  is  not  a  personal 
being,  holding  men  responsible  for  their  actions. 

Buddhism  has  been  more  commonly  put  forward 
as  a  rival  to  Christianity  than  Hinduism,  and  often 
on  the  ground  of  the  resemblance  between  the 
teaching  of  Gotama  and  the  teaching  of  Jesus 
Christ.  But  any  such  resemblance  is  almost  en- 
tirely on  the  surface.^  Take  three  points  out  of 
many,  (i.)  *'Real  Buddhism,"  it  has  been  said, 
**is  real  atheism."^  Whatever  the  multitude  of 
deities  which  it  recognizes  and  its  hosts  of  demons, 
it  has  no  idea  of  a  personal  God,  the  omnipotent 
creator  and  ruler  of  the  world.  It  is  occupied 
chiefly  with  human  relations,  and  with  the  career 
and  destiny  of  man  as  exemplified  in  the  law  of 
cause  and  effect.  Bishop  Copleston,  while  remark- 
ing that  the  Buddhist's  belief  is  in  reality  both  bet- 
ter and  worse  than  his  creed,  quotes  the  Buddhist 

from  the  prayer  quoted  by  Spence  Hardy  (given  in  Clarke,  II,  128), 
it  is  undoubtedly  creature  worship.  See  Liddon's  Lectures  on 
Buddhism,  Essays  and  Addresses,  pp.  48-51. 

^  See  Note  A,  p.  81. 

^  See  The  Dhama  of  Gotama  the  Buddha  and  the  Gospel  of  Jestis 
the  Christ,  by  C.  F.  Aiken,  especially  the  last  chapter,  "Buddhism 
viewed  in  the  light  of  Christianity." 

^  Dux  Christum,  an  outline  study  of  Japan,  by  W.  E  Griffis, 
p.  118. 


24  FAITH   AND    LIFE 

Catechism,  "A  personal  God  Buddhists  regard  as 
only  a  gigantic  shadow  thrown  upon  the  void  of 
space  by  the  imagination  of  ignorant  men."^  The 
system  is  practically  polytheistic. 

(ii.)  As  regards  man,  with  all  its  great  claims 
Buddhism  teaches  the  suppression  of  all  desire, 
while  it  is  the  object  of  Christianity  to  elevate  and 
purify  desire.  The  Buddhist  looks  forward  to  the 
unconscious  repose  of  Nirvana,  the  Christian  looks 
for  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  the  life  of  the 
world  to  come.^  Consequently  the  path  to  Nirvana 
is  marked  by  the  gravestones  not  only  of  every  un- 
worthy passion,  but  of  every  legitimate  desire  of 
human  nature.  As  Amiel  puts  it,  "The  Christian 
says  to  God :    Deliver  us  from  evil.     The  Buddhist 

^  Buddhism,  Primitive  and  Present,  in  Magadha  and  Ceylon,  by 
R.  S.  Gppleston,  Bishop  of  Colombo  (now  Bishop  and  Metropoli- 
tan of  Calcutta),  p.  477. 

^  Prof.  Rhys  Davids  denies  that  Nirvana  means  annihilation, 
regarding  it  as  "A  sinless,  calm  state  of  mind,"  or  "holiness  in 
the  Buddhist  sense,  perfect  peace,  goodness,  and  wisdom";  but 
he  admits  that  it  implies  "the  cessation  of  individual  existence." 
Buddhism  (in  Non-Christian  Religious  Systems,  S.P.C.K.),  pp. 
Ill,  112.  For  the  Buddhist  denial  of  any  permanent  independent 
soul,  see  Copleston,  pp.  113-115.  "The  self  or  personality  has  no 
permanent  reality;  it  is  the  result  of  certain  elements  coming  to- 
gether, a  combination  of  faculties  and  character."  The  death  of 
a  man  is  a  breaking  up  of  this  combination.  But  these  broken 
elements  of  life  tend  to  re-combine.  In  this  way  a  man  comes  into 
being  again,  unless  he  has  entirely  uprooted  all  desire  of  life,  and 
overcome  all  tendencies  to  re-combination. 


THE   EFFECT   OF   FAITH   ON   LIFE        25 

adds:  And  to  that  end  deliver  us  from  finite  exist- 
ence, give  us  back  to  nothingness."^  Buddha  bids 
men  aim  at  inaction,  indifference,  and  apathy,  as 
the  highest  of  all  states.  Christianity  bids  us  yield 
ourselves  unto  God  as  those  that  are  alive  from  the 
dead,  and  our  very  bodily  members  as  instruments 
of  righteousness  unto  God.^  Hence  Buddhism, 
when  honest,  is  frankly  pessimistic;  Christianity, 
when  real,  is  of  necessity  optimistic.  Buddhist 
civilization  is  stagnant,  while  Christian  civilization 
is  progressive.^ 

As  bearing  on  a  system,  widely  spread  among 
ourselves,  claiming  no  connection  with  Buddhism, 
but  reproducing  one  of  its  most  obvious  differences 
from  Christianity,  I  may  quote  the  remark  of  Sir 
Monier  Williams:  "It  is  certainly  noteworthy  that 
both  Christianity  and  Buddhism  agree  in  asserting 
that  all  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain,  in 
suffering,  in  tribulation.  But  mark  the  vast,  the 
vital  distinction  in  the  teaching  of  each.  The  one 
taught  men  to  be  patient  under  affliction,  and  to 
aim  at  the  glorification  of  the  suffering  body,  the 
other  taught  men  to  be  intolerant  of  affliction,  and 
to  aim  at  the  utter  annihilation  of  the  suffering 

^Amiel's  Journal  (Mrs.  Humphry  Ward's  translation),  vol.  H, 
p.  55. 

2  Rom.  vi.  13. 

^  Dux  Christ-US,  pp.  119,  1^0,  Aiken,  p.  315. 


26  FAITH   AND    LIFE 

body."  ^  How  different  this  expectation  from  that 
of  the  Christian,  for  whom  "  spirituahty "  consists 
not  in  getting  free  from  the  body  and  from  all  things 
material,  but  in  having  all  spiritualized  by  the  con- 
trol and  interpenetration  of  the  spirit!  This  is  the 
law  of  the  Incarnation;  this  is  its  perfected  realiza- 
tion, the  Christian's  ultimate  hope.^ 

(iii.)  ''The  motive  which  Buddhist  morality  rec- 
ognizes, if  it  can  be  said  to  recognize  any,  is  wholly 
selfish  and  individual.  It  is  not  for  the  love  of  truth 
or  goodness,  nor  for  the  benefit  of  others — to  recog- 
nize the  two  principal  motives  recognized  by  other 
merely  human  systems — it  is  solely  for  the  indi- 
vidual's own  advantage  that  he  is  incited  to  culti- 

^  Buddhism,  p.  545;  comp.  p.  559. 

^  "The  Buddhist  leaves  the  world  and  mortifies  the  body,  be- 
cause he  thinks  them  worthless  or  even  evil  in  themselves;  the 
Christian  leaves  the  world  because  he  himself  is  sinful,  and  liable 
through  his  own  fault  to  make  a  bad  use  of  God's  good  creatures; 
and  in  leaving  them  he  feels  that  he  sacrifices  them  to  God.  The 
Buddhist's  solitude  is  a  withdrawal  from  all  things  to  nothing,  the 
Christian's,  from  all  other  things  to  God." — Copleston,  p.  143. 

On  true  and  false  asceticism  see  Illingworth,  Christian  Char- 
acter, p.  183,  and  a  sermon  of  Canon  Scott  Holland  on  "The  Word 
was  made  flesh,"  in  his  volume  On  Behalf  of  Belief:  "The  life 
of  the  Lord  is  not  a  movement  of  the  human  spirit  upward,  attain- 
ing its  release  at  death,  but  a  descent  of  the  Divine  Spirit  down- 
wards, to  inhabit,  and  possess,  and  secure  for  its  own  our  frail  and 
fleshly  nature."  p.  252.  Also  an  excellent  paper  on  "Asceticism, 
true  and  false,  in  the  ethical  teaching  of  St.  Paul,"  by  the  Rev. 
George  Jackson,  in  The  Expositor  for  September,  1905,  p.  181. 


THE   EFFECT  OF   FAITH   ON   LIFE        27 

vate  virtue.  Nor  is  it  a  very  brave  or  noble  selfish- 
ness. It  seeks,  not  to  make  the  best  of  itself,  like 
the  Greek  selfishness,  but  to  escape  from  pain  and 
from  the  burdens  of  life.  It  is  not  ennobling. 
And  the  idea  of  duty  is  utterly  absent."^  In  the 
light  of  such  and  similar  distinctions  Bishop  Cop- 
leston  may  well  say,  *'  The  two  moralities  (Buddhist 
and  Christian)  have  no  more  in  common  than  a  list 
of  bones  on  paper  has  with  a  living  body."^  "I 
am  painfully  aware,"  he  says,  "  how  little  Christian 
conduct  often  corresponds  to  Christian  standard; 
but,  at  any  rate,  *  Christian  behaviour '  means — in  all 
lips — *  good  behaviour ' ;  I  suppose  no  one  ever  heard 
a  Sinhalese  use  'Buddhist  conduct'  as  a  synonjnn 
for  *good  conduct'."^ 

"  It  is  indeed,"  to  quote  again  from  another  great 
authority  on  the  religion  of  Buddha,'*  "one  of  the 

^Copleston,  p.  213;  comp.  Monier  Williams,  pp.  558,  559. 
"Note  the  vast  distinction  between  the  two  systems  [Christianity 
and  Buddhism].  Christianity  demands  the  suppression  of  selfish- 
ness; Buddhism  demands  the  suppression  of  self,  with  the  one 
object  of  extinguishing  all  consciousness  of  self.  In  the  one  the 
true  self  is  elevated  and  intensified.  In  the  other,  the  true  self  is 
annihilated  by  the  practice  of  a  false  fonn  of  non-selfishness,  which 
has  for  its  real  object,  not  the  good  of  others,  but  the  annihilation 
of  the  Ego,  the  utter  extinction  of  the  illusion  of  personal  individu- 
ality." 

2  P.  201. 

^  P.  481.    On  the  actual  failure  of  Buddhism,  see  Aiken,  p.  320. 

*  Monier  Williams,  p.  541. 


28  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

strange  phenomena  of  the  present  day,  that  even 
educated  people  who  call  themselves  Christians,  are 
apt  to  fall  into  raptures  over  the  precepts  of  Buddh- 
ism, attracted  by  the  bright  gems  which  its  admirers 
delight  in  culling  out  of  its  moral  code,  and  in  display- 
ing ostentatiously,  while  keeping  out  of  sight  all  its 
dark  spots,  all  its  trivialities  and  senseless  repetitions; 
not  to  speak  of  all  those  evidences  of  deep  corrup- 
tion beneath  a  whited  surface,  all  those  significant 
precepts  and  prohibitions  in  its  books  of  discipline, 
which  indeed  no  Christian  could  soil  his  lips  by 
uttering." 

Once  more;  Buddhism,  it  should  be  remembered, 
is  in  no  true  sense  a  catholic  religion.  Lay  people, 
living  in  families,  outside  the  actual  community,  are 
only  regarded  as  associates  of  the  monks,  having 
both  a  distinct  rule  and  a  distinct  hope  set  before 
them.  So  too  the  nuns  formed  an  entirely  auxiliary 
organization,  and  their  admission  was  said  by 
Gotama  to  be  the  sure  cause  of  ruin  to  the  system.^ 

*  Copleston,  pp.  204,  250.  Compare  Dr.  Bigg  on  Stoicism. 
"Epictetus  did  not  like  women  and  children,  because  they  bored 
him,  and  he  did  not  see  why  he  should  be  bored.  These  weaker 
vessels  take  from  the  wise  man,  and  give  nothing  in  return.  They 
are  a  clog  upon  one  who  pursues  inner  perfection  and  tranquillity. 
It  never  for  a  moment  occurred  to  Epictetus  that  man  becomes 
better  not  by  self-cultivation,  but  by  making  others  better,  or,  in 
other  words,  that  the  voluntary  suffering  of  the  good  lifts  up  the 
bad  and  makes  the  good  better  than  he  was."  The  Church's 
Task  under  the  Roman  Empire,  xiii. 


THE   EFFECT   OF   FAITH    ON    LIFE        29 

Bishop  Graves  of  Shanghai  says,  "  One  has  to  see 
Oriental  creeds  in  action,  and  what  the  issue  of  them 
is  in  Hfe,  to  feel  perfectly  sure  of  one's  [Christian] 
faith."  The  Bishop  was  writing  in  reply  to  an 
enquiry  about  the  Letters  from  a  (supposed)  Chinese 
Official  (since  acknowledged  as  the  work  of  a  Fellow 
of  King's  College,  Cambridge),^  which  attracted 
some  attention  in  England  and  America  a  short  time 
ago.  Concerning  the  author's  comparison  of  Con- 
fucianism with  Christianity,  he  says:  "The  writer 
takes  the  worst  of  our  morals,  the  weakest  of  our 
religion,  the  most  debasing  of  our  industrial  condi- 
tions, the  most  pernicious  of  our  vices,  and  against 
them  he  sets,  not  the  best  that  China  can  show,  but 
an  exaggerated  picture  which  is  false  to  fact.  This 
is  not  argument,  but  trickery,  since  it  presumes  on 
the  fact  that  one's  readers  will  know  no  better. 
One  could  forgiv^e  it  if  the  picture  were  not  so  radi- 
cally false." ' 

It  has  been  seriously  contended  that  Mohamme- 
danism is  better  suited  than  Christianity  to  the  Afri- 
can races.  On  its  failure,  while  lifting  up  savage 
peoples  in  certain  measure,  to  maintain  a  moral 


"  The  Spirit  of  Missions,  July,  1905,  p.  517. 

^  Ibid.  June,  1904,  p.  396.  For  the  actual  condition  of  China 
see  an  article  on  "China's  Needs,"  in  The  East  and  the  West,  Jan., 
1903,  by  Clement  F.  R.  Allen,  formerly  British  Consul  at  Foo- 
chow. 


30  FAITH   AND    LIFE 

level.  Professor  Ramsay's  verdict  may  be  cited:* 
He  speaks  of  "the  contrast  between  the  earlier 
glories  and  the  later  impotence  and  stagnation  of 
the  peoples  whom  it  first  affected — the  marvellously 
rapidly  educating  power  that  it  exerts  on  a  savage 
race,  raising  it  at  the  first  moment  of  conversion  to 
a  distinctly  higher  level  of  spiritual  and  intellectual 
life,  and  yet  the  following  acquiescence  in  that  level, 
or  even  the  sinking  again  below  it."  This  failure 
Dr.  Ramsay  without  hesitation  attributes  to  "the 
utter  want  of  education  inside  the  home,  the  igno- 
rance of  the  women  and  their  inability  to  entertain 
for  themselves  or  to  impress  upon  their  children 
any  ideas  of  duty  as  the  principle  of  good  conduct." 
With  a  deeper  insight,  and  in  accordance  with  the 
line  of  our  thought,  James  Freeman  Clark  traces 
the  utter  inability  of  Mohammedanism  to  establish 
any  good  government  to  its  defective  theology. 
"The  conclusion  we  must  inevitably  come  to  [from 
a  study  of  Mohammedanism  as  it  actually  exists]  is, 
that  the  worst  Christian  Government,  be  it  that  of 
the  Pope  or  the  Czar,  is  very  much  better  than  the 
best  Mohammedan  Government.  Everywhere  we 
find  arbitrary  will  taking  the  place  of  law.  In  most 
places  the  people  haye  no  protection  for  life  or  prop- 
erty, and  know  the  Government  only  through  its  tax- 

*  Historical  Commentary  on  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Galatiana, 
pp.  388,  389,  and  Letters  to  the  Seven  Churches,  p.  242. 


THE   EFFECT   OF   FAITH   ON   LIFE        31 

gatherers.  And  all  this  is  necessarily  and  logically 
derived  from  the  fundamental  principle  of  Moham- 
medan theology.  God  is  pure  will,  not  justice,  not 
reason,  not  love.  Christianity  says,  *  God  is  love'; 
Mohammedanism  says,  'God  is  will.'  Christianity 
says,  'Trust  in  God';  Mohammedanism  says,  'Sub- 
mit to  God.'  Hence  the  hardness,  coldness,  and 
cruelty  of  the  system;  hence  its  utter  inability  to 
establish  any  good  government."  "Will  divorced 
from  reason  and  love  is  wilfulness,  or  a  purely  arbi- 
trary will.  The  monotheism  of  the  Jews  [and 
therefore  of  Christians]  differed  from  this,  in  that 
it  combined  with  the  idea  of  will  the  idea  of  justice. 
God  not  only  does  what  he  chooses,  but  He  chooses 
to  do  only  what  is  right.  Righteousness  is  an  attri- 
bute of  God,  with  which  the  Jewish  books  are 
saturated."  * 

The  effect  of  this  conception  of  an  arbitrary  God 
on  Mohammedan  life  is  thus  described  by  a  mission- 
ary at  Zanzibar :  "  Instead  of  a  Christian  family,  we 
have  a  little  or  big  despot  with  his  wives  and  concu- 
bines and  slaves,  doing  what  he  wills,  as  he  wills, 
and  when  he  wills,  and  this  conception  of  the  social 
life  is  projected  both  by  the  Qur'an  and  the  tradi- 
tions into  Paradise  itself."  ^ 

^  Ten  Great  Religions,  vol.  I,  pp.  477,  478,  and  481,  482. 
^  The  Contrast  Between  Christianity  and  Muhammadanism,  four 
lectures  at  Zanzibar,  by  the  Rev.  Godfrey  Dale,  p.  60. 


32  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

It  must  not  be  imagined  that  the  Christian  teacher 
or  apologist  is  bent  on  disparaging  the  character 
or  influence  of  non-Christian  rehgious  systems.  We 
should  thankfully  acknowledge  all  the  elements  of 
truth  which  they  contain,  all  that  they  have  effected 
for  their  disciples.  The  Word  of  God,  who  in  the 
fulness  of  time  became  incarnate,  whom  we  worship 
as  Jesus  the  Christ,  is,  according  to  Christian  teach- 
ing, the  Light  that,  perpetually  coming  into  the 
world,  lightens  every  man  in  reason  and  in  con- 
science.^ To  His  inspiration  we  attribute  all  the 
truth  taught  in  varying  degrees  by  Jewish  prophets 
and  by  heathen  sages.  When  He  came  in  the  flesh. 
His  mission  was  not  to  destroy  but  to  fulfil,^  not  the 
Jewish  law  and  prophets  only,  but  ethnic  religions 
likewise.  In  those  systems  we  are  to  recognize  dif- 
ferent races  seeking  the  Lord  (often  blindly,  yet  not 
without  guidance),  if  haply  they  may  feel  after  Him 
and  find  Him.^  "They  partially  satisfied  a  great 
hunger  of  the  human  heart.  They  exercised  some 
restraint  on  human  wilfulness  and  passion.  They 
have  directed,  however  imperfectly,  the  human  con- 
science toward  the  right."'*    The  God  whom  they  in 

^  John  i.  9. 

2  Matt.  V.  17. 

^  Acts  xvii.  27. 

^  Ten  Great  Religions,  vol.  I,  p.  7.  Dr.  Clark  sagaciously  re- 
marks that  the  present  laudation  of  heathen  religions  is  a  reac- 
tion from  the  earlier  disparagement  of  them.     "An  ignorant 


THE   EFFECT  OF  FAITH   ON   LIFE        33 

comparative  ignorance  worship,  we  would  declare 
unto  them  as  He  is  manifested  in  His  incarnate 
Son/  The  means  whereby  the  union  with  Him 
that  they  desire  may  be  effected,  we  would  point 
out.^  It  is  where  these  systems  fail  to  grasp  some 
portion  of  His  mind  and  will  as  revealed  in  Christ 
that  they  lose  directing  and  enabling  power  for  the 
realization  of  these  yearnings.  These  deficiencies 
or  perversions  it  must  be  our  desire  to  correct. 
"Christianity,"  it  has  been  said,  "does  not  [so 
much]  differ  from  other  religions  in  being  true  while 
they  are  false,  but  [rather]  in  possessing  the  whole 
of  which  they  possess  parts. "^  Consequently  it  is 
"the  universal  solvent,  capable  of  receiving  into 
itself  the  existing  truths  of  the  ethnic  religions,  and 
fulfilling  them  with  something  higher."  More 
especially  is  it  true  that  "the  originality  of  Jesus 
is  not   novelty,  but  vitality."^     "I  am  come,"  He 

admiration  of  the  sacred  books  of  the  Buddhists  and  Brahmins 
has  succeeded  to  the  former  ignorant  and  sweeping  condemnation 
of  them."     P.  13. 

^  Acts  xvii.  23,  John  i.  14. 

^  "The  strength  of  Pantheistic  systems  lies  in  that  craving  of 
the  intellect  and  of  the  heart  for  union  with  the  Absolute  Being, 
which  is  the  most  legitimate  and  the  noblest  instinct  of  our  nature. 
This  craving  is  satisfied  by  the  Christian's  union  with  the  Incar- 
nate One."    Liddon,  Bampton  Lectures,  viii,  p.  4s57. 

^Freeman  Clark,  Ten  Great  Religions,  vol.  11,  p.  323;  comp. 
the  section,  pp.  361-363,  on  "The  fulness  of  Life." 

*  Ihid.  I,  pp.  504,  492,  445. 
3 


34  FAITH   AND  LIFE 

declared,  *'  that  men  may  have  life,  and  have  it  more 
abundantly."  ^ 

When  we  point  to  the  failures  of  non-Christian 
religions  to  hallow  the  lives  of  those  who  profess 
them,  the  question  may  be  fairly  asked  and  must  be 
honestly  faced.  How  do  you  account  for  the  com- 
parative failures  of  Christianity?  Granting  its 
great  achievements,  taking  into  account  its  Master's 
prevision  and  warning  that  its  principles  would  only 
gradually  penetrate  human  society,^  we  must  confess 
to  a  humiliating  contrast  between  profession  and 
practice,  between  the  gifts  of  grace  and  truth  which 
came  by  Jesus  Christ  and  the  actual  lives  of  the 

^  John  X.  10.  It  will  not,  it  is  hoped,  be  supposed  that  in  the 
endeavor  to  regard  non-Christian  systems  fairly,  and  to  recognize 
the  divine  use  of  them,  the  other  side  is  ignored.  Their  failures 
have  been  pointed  out.  Those  who  as  Christian  missionaries  are 
brought  into  close  and  intimate  contact  with  their  practical  work- 
ing are  generally  inclined  to  view  their  actual  influence  with 
greater  sternness  than  do  students  at  a  distance.  Many  would 
agree  with  Dr.  Dennis's  judgment  that  "as  a  whole  they  are  so 
dominated  by  error  and  corrupted  in  practice  that  the  modicum 
of  truth  which  they  contain  has  been  neutrahzed  and  practically 
reversed  by  the  predominance  of  the  false  over  the  true."  Chris- 
tian Missions  and  Social  Progress,  vol.  I,  p.  461.  In  this  light  we 
may  understand  the  apostolic  view  expressed  in  1  Cor.  x.  20, 
Acts  xxvi,  18,  1  John  v.  19  (iv  rcD  Tzovrjpiji,  in  the  grasp  of  the 
evil  one). 

^  E.g.  in  the  parable  of  the  Tares,  Matt,  xiii,  and  in  the  answer 
to  the  Baptist's  disciples,  Matt.  xi.  2-6. 


THE   EFFECT  OF   FAITH   ON   LIFE        35 

mass  of  Christian  men  and  women.  To  what  is 
this  contrast  to  be  traced?  It  is,  of  course,  partly 
and  largely  due  to  the  want  of  real  surrender,  as 
distinct  from  mere  profession  or  intellectual  acqui- 
escence, which  (as  will  be  shown  in  the  next  lecture) 
is  involved  in  true  Christian  faith.  When  the  faith 
is  not  heartily  embraced,  its  legitimate  consequences 
cannot  be  expected;  where  the  seed  has  not  sunk 
into  the  soil,  its  fruit  must  not  be  looked  for.  It  is 
also  largely  due  to  imperfect  presentations  of  Chris- 
tianity, amounting  to  misrepresentations  and  carica- 
tures, which  not  only  repel  those  outside  its  obedience 
who  should  be  attracted,  but  also  weaken  those  who 
are  within,  by  a  lowering  of  New  Testament  stand- 
ards and  requirements,  such  as  is  practically  in- 
volved in  the  popular  Protestant  doctrine  of  the 
imputation  of  Christ's  merits,  or  on  the  other  hand 
in  a  mechanical  view  of  the  operation  of  sacraments, 
or  in  the  granting  of  indulgences.  The  true  faith 
and  the  full  faith  are  required.  Every  revealed 
truth  that  is  missed  involves  some  moral  and  spir- 
itual loss.  And  the  faith  must  be  taught  intelli- 
gently, otherwise  the  mind,  having  no  real  grasp  of 
it,  cannot  be  influenced  by  its  truths. 

Here  we  encounter  the  attempts,  so  popular  in 
our  day,  to  secure  Morality  without  Rehgion,  or  at 
any  rate  without  definite  religion  or  what  is  stigma- 


36  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

tized  as  dogmatic  belief.^  This  is  the  position  of 
the  agnostic  and  of  many  who  feel  themselves  forced 
into  a  practically  agnostic  position  by  the  divisions 
of  Christendom.  Such  persons  fondly  cherish  the 
hope  that  Christian  ethics,  or  a  large  residuum 
thereof,  can  stand  by  themselves  apart  from  Chris- 
tian doctrine.  "Let  us  teach  self-respect,  truthful- 
ness, altruism,  without  encumbering  obvious  duties 
with  doubtful  theological  propositions  and  unneces- 
sary theological  sanctions."  This  is  the  plea  we 
continually  hear,  boldly  urged  by  the  downright 
secularist,  and  timidly  echoed  by  the  perplexed 
Christian.     The  fallacy  of  such  expectations  must 

*  "The  cry  for  a  creedless  religion,  and  for  Christianity  without 
doctrine,  may  be  popular  with  the  ignorant.  But  teaching,  when 
it  begins  to  be  systematic,  is  doctrine;  and  the  epitome  of  the  ob- 
jects of  our  belief  is  creed.  Religion  without  doctrine  is  super- 
ficial sentiment  fed  on  phrases,  and  ending  in  atheism." — Bishop 
H.  E.  Ryle,  On  the  Church  of  England,  p.  246.  Compare  An 
Essay  toward  Faith,  by  Dr.  W.  L.  Robbins,  pp.  154,  155:  "Dog- 
ma is  definition,  nothing  more.  It  presupposes  that  we  know 
certain  truths  not  alone  with  the  certitude  of  spiritual  experience, 
but  according  to  the  categories  of  the  intellect.  If  we  know  noth- 
ing we  camiot  dogmatize,  if  we  know  anything  with  certainty  we 
must  dogmatize.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  world  dogma  has 
been  appropriated  so  exclusively  to  the  formulating  of  religious 
truth,  for  this  obscures  the  identity  of  the  process  with  clearness 
of  definition  in  all  branches  of  knowledge.  There  are  dogmas  of 
science,  dogmas  of  philosophy,  dogmas  of  trade,  just  as  truly  as 
there  are  dogmas  of  religion.  The  difference  of  subject-matter 
and  methods  of  arriving  at  conclusions,  ought  not  to  blind  us  to 
this  obvious  fact." 


THE  EFFECT   OF   FAITH   ON   LIFE        37 

be  plainly  exposed.  Why  should  I  love  my  neigh- 
bour as  myself,  unless  both  he  and  I  are  children  of 
a  common  Father  ?  Why  should  I  not  enjoy  myself 
in  the  ways  which  most  appeal  to  me,  and  then 
end  life  when  it  has  become  too  burdensome  or 
complicated,  if  this  life  is  all  that  I  have  to  expect 
or  there  is  no  higher  power  to  hold  me  really  respon- 
sible? The  claims  of  Duty  are  urged;  but  duty 
implies  a  definite  law  to  be  obeyed  and  a  lawgiver/ 
Christianity  has  a  definite  standard,  which  com- 
mends itself  to  our  moral  sense,  though  beyond  our 
power  to  discover;  but  without  the  sanction  of 
revelation  what  standard  of  morality  is  to  be  ac- 
cepted, and  on  what  authority  is  it  to  be  enforced  ? 
Neither  Utilitarianism  nor  Stoicism  will,  with  the 
mass  of  men,  avail  to  resist  the  stress  of  immediate 
temptation,  whether  in  the  form  of  passion  or  of 
cowardice.  We  have  a  right  to  inquire  of  the 
secularist  as  to  the  standard,  the  sanction,  and  the 
enabling  power,  which  he  proposes  to  substitute  for 
those  of  the  Christian  religion,  with  its  teaching  con- 
cerning a  Creator,  a  Redeemer,  and  a  Sanctifier, 
God  and  Christ  and  the  Holy  Spirit.  Were  the 
standard  ever  so  clearly  recognized,  and  the  penalty 
of  transgression,  it  is  not  enough  to  perceive  and 

*  On  the  theory  of  an  Independent  Morality  see  Guizot's 
Christianity  in  relation  to  Society  and  Opinion,  "Christianity 
and  Morality."    . 


38  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

know  what  things  we  ought  to  do;  the  will  needs  to 
be  strengthened  that  we  may  faithfully  perform  the 
same.  It  is  not  the  Jewish  law  only  that  was  weak ; 
all  law  requires  to  be  supplemented  by  grace,  if  it 
is  to  become  an  effective  instrument  for  righteous 
conduct. 

It  is  in  vain  that  our  attention  is  called  to  no- 
ble specimens  of  upright  and  self-sacrificing  lives 
among  those  who  reject  the  Christian  revelation. 
Specimens  these  may  be,  but  they  are  not  samples. 
The  question  is  of  the  effect  of  belief  or  unbelief  on 
the  mass  of  men,  and  in  the  long  run.  For  a  while 
Christian  elements  survive  in  the  mental  and  moral 
atmosphere  by  which  those  who  ignore  the  source 
of  their  inspiration  are  nourished  and  controlled. 
Something  of  what  we  may  expect  when,  under  the 
influence  of  purely  secular  education,  the  Christian 
elements  are  more  and  more  eliminated  from  the 
atmosphere  may  be  gathered  from  official  reports 
and  statistics  in  our  own  country  and  in  Great 
Britain. 

I  may  quote  from  the  unchallenged  Report  of  the 
Joint  Committee  on  Christian  Education  made  to 
our  last  General  Convention. 

"Statistics  show  that  criminals  in  this  country 
have  increased  from  one  in  every  3,442  of  the  popu- 
lation, in  1850,  to  one  in  every  715,  in  1890.  Juve- 
nile crime  has  abnormally  increased.     In  1899,  in 


THE   EFFECT  OF   FAITH   ON   LIFE        39 

one  of  the  largest  cities  of  this  country,  there  were 
17,300  prisoners  under  sixteen  years  of  age  in  jail. 
In  the  opinion  of  the  Judge  of  the  Juvenile  Court 
of  another  city,  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  boys  in  that  city 
are  dishonest;  out  of  a  generation  of  10,000,  2,000 
have  actually  been  in  jail.  So  great  is  the  want  of 
self-control  and  the  awful  callousness  to  the  value 
of  human  life,  that  now  one  death  in  every  sixty- 
five  is  either  a  murder  or  a  suicide ;  and  it  is  pathetic 
to  note  the  great  increase  in  the  suicide  of  women 
and  school  children.  It  is  manifest  that  not  merely 
more  and  better  education  will  correct  such  evils, 
for  that  each  advancing  year  must  be  supposed  to 
have  brought  us ;  but  that  education  effective  to  the 
needed  end  must  be  founded  upon  moral  principles 
and  impregnated  with  religion."^ 

Similar  figures  from  the  criminal  statistics  of 
Great  Britam  point  to  the  same  conclusions.  The 
blue  book  of  Criminal  Statistics  for  England  and 
Wales  for  1903  shows  that  "for  many  years  up  to 
1899  there  was  a  steady  decline  in  the  number  of 
persons  tried  for  indictable  offences,  but  since  that 
year  the  figures  have  progressively  increased."^ 
"  The  figures  for  attempts  to  commit  suicide  continue 
to  show  a  progressive  increase;"^  while  in  forty 
years  the  actual  suicides  have  increased  from  a  pro- 

*  Journal  of  the  General  Gmvention,  1904,  p.  526. 
2  P.  13.  ^P.14. 


40  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

portion  of  6.71  to  10.4'2  per  100,000  of  population.* 
The  Report  for  Scotland  shows  "that  the  more 
serious  crimes  are  increasing,  while  minor  crimes 
and  offences  are  decreasing."^  The  number  of  con- 
victions of  boys  and  girls  under  sixteen  years  of  age 
is  emphasized,  and  gives,  the  Report  says,  "an  un- 
satisfactory indication  of  the  manner  in  which  many 
of  the  young  are  being  brought  up."  "It  is  fre- 
quently said,"  the  Report  concludes,  "that  parental 
control  is  now  less  effective  than  it  was  two  genera- 
tions ago,  but  the  country  at  least  possesses  the  ad- 
vantage of  compulsory  education,  and  it  would  ap- 
pear desirable  that  the  Board  School  should  do 
more  towards  educating  the  children  in  principles 
of  good  conduct  and  decorum."  ^ 

Approaching  the  subject  from  a  different  stand- 
point, but  testifying  to  the  same  principle,  is  the 
remarkable  Report  of  the  South  African  Native 
Affairs  Commission  presented  to  the  British  Parlia- 
ment in  April,  1905.  The  Commissioners,  eleven 
laymen  representing  all  the  South  African  colonies, 
in  that  part  of  their  report  which  deals  with  "  Chris- 
tianity and  Morals,"  declare: 

"  For  the  moral  influence  of  the  Natives  there  is 
available  no  influence  equal  to  that  of  religious  be- 

^  P.  21.    I  mention  suicides  in  paxticular,  because  they  seem 
especially  to  denote  the  loss  of  religious  restraints. 
2 P.  7.  'P.  10. 


THE  EFFECT  OF  FAITH   ON   LIFE        41 

lief.  The  vague  superstitions  of  the  heathen  are 
entirely  unconnected  with  any  moral  ideas,  though 
upon  sensuality,  dishonesty,  and  other  vices  there 
have  always  been  certain  tribal  restraints  which, 
while  not  based  upon  abstract  morality,  have  been 
real,  and,  so  far  as  they  go,  effective.  These  re- 
moved, civilization,  particularly  in  the  larger  towns, 
brings  the  Native  under  the  influence  of  a  social 
system  of  which  he  too  often  sees  and  assimilates 
the  worst  side  only."^  The  Commission  considers 
that  the  restraints  of  the  law  furnish  an  inadequate 
check  upon  this  tendency  toward  demoralization, 
and  that  no  merely  secular  system  of  morality  that 
might  be  applied  would  serve  to  raise  the  Natives' 
ideals  of  conduct  or  to  counteract  the  evil  influences 
which  have  been  alluded  to,  and  is  of  opinion  that 
hope  for  the  elevation  of  the  Native  races  must 
depend  mainly  on  their  acceptance  of  Christian 
faith  and  morals.^  "It  is  true  that  the  conduct  of 
many  converts  to  Christianity  is  not  all  that  could 
be  desired,  and  that  the  Native  Christian  does  not 
appear  to  escape  at  once  and  entirely  from  certain 
besetting  sins  of  his  nature;  but,  nevertheless,  the 
weight  of  evidence  is  in  favor  of  the  improved  mor- 
ality of  the  Christian  section  of  the  population,  and 
to  the  effect  that  there  appears  to  be  in  the  Native 
mind  no  inherent  incapacity  to  apprehend  the 
*  Sec.  283.  2ggc.286. 


42  FAITH   AND    LIFE 

truth  of  Christian  teaching  or  to  adopt  Christian 
morals  as  a  standard."^  "The  Commission  is  of 
opinion  that  regular  moral  and  religious  instruction 
should  be  given  in  all  native  schools."^ 

The  attempt,  perfectly  honest  and  sincere  in  many 
cases,  to  establish  and  maintain  a  high  standard  of 
righteous  conduct  without  the  motives  and  sanc- 
tions of  religion,  is,  we  may  be  assured,  doomed  to 
failure.  It  assumes  that  God  need  not  be  con- 
sidered, nor  man's  highest  faculties,  as  we  believe 
them  to  be,  which  are  exercised  toward  Him;  it 
takes  for  granted  also  that  the  lower  faculties  of 
man's  being  will  prove  true  and  efficient  without 
the  guidance  and  control  of  the  higher.^ 

^  Sec.  288. 

^  Pages  40  and  41  of  the  Report. 

^  See  Liddon,  Bampton  Lectures,  iii,  pp.  125,  126.  "Modem 
unbelief  may  be  deemed  less  formidable  when  we  steadily  observe 
its  moral  impotence  for  all  constructive  purposes.  Its  strength 
and  genius  lie  only  in  the  direction  of  destruction.  It  has  shown 
no  sort  of  power  to  build  up  any  spiritual  fabric  or  system  which, 
as  a  shelter  and  a  discipline  for  the  hearts  and  lives  of  men,  can 
take  the  place  of  that  which  it  seeks  to  destroy.  Leaving  some  of 
the  deepest,  most  legitimate,  and  most  ineradicable  needs  of  the 
human  soul  utterly  unsatisfied,  modern  unbelief  can  never  really 
hope  permanently  to  establish  a  popular  *  religion  of  humanity.'" 

With  this  claim  of  the  Christian  apologist,  it  is  interesting  to 
compare  the  confession  of  an  able  and  high-minded  sceptic  con- 
tained in  an  interesting  biography  recently  privately  printed.  "At 
present  it  is  certain  that  with  the  masses  no  motives  for  goodness 
have  been  found  as  effective  as  belief  ia  a  merciful  God,  and  in 


THE   EFFECT   OF   FAITH   ON   LIFE        43 

If  these  things  are  so,  three  duties  toward  our 
faith  are  clear. 

1.  First  we  must  think  about  it.  Let  no  one  be 
afraid  of  losing  his  faith  by  making  it  a  subject  of 
serious  thought.  The  Christian  is  bidden  to  love 
God  with  all  his  mind  as  well  as  with  all  his  heart 
and  soul.^  We  owe  to  Almighty  God  the  homage 
of  our  intellectual  powers,  and  their  exercise  upon 
the  truths  which  He  has  revealed.  We  must  seek 
to  gain  clear  and  more  worthy  ideas  of  the  objects 
of  our  faith.  The  facts  will  remain  unchanged, 
though  with  increased  intelligence  they  may  be 
viewed  and  expressed  in  a  somewhat  different  way.^ 
"Christian  knowledge,  which  is  the  essence  of  life, 
is  necessarily  progressive."^  Especially  is  there  need 
of  maintaining  "  the  analogy  of  the  faith,"^  of  seek- 
ing to  give  a  proportionate  emphasis  to  the  different 

immortality,  or  indeed  effective  at  all."  "I  believe  that  the  time 
will  come  (for  as  yet  it  has  not  come)  when  scepticism  will  be  able 
to  supply  an  efficient  motive  for  nobility  of  life — a  powerful  motive 
for  goodness — this  motive  is  what  the  true  philosophy  should 
seek,  and  one  that  rests  on  indisputable  Fact,  not  on  Faith." 

For  the  deteriorating  effect,  in  other  spheres  beside  that  of 
religion,  of  a  loss  of  faith,  see  Freeman  Clark,  Ten  Great  Religions^ 
vol.  n,  p.  350. 

*  Matt.  xxii.  27. 

^  On  the  distinction  between  facts  and  theories  in  Christian 
doctrine,  see  Illingworth,  Reason  and  Revelation^  pp.  141,  142. 

^  Westcott,  The  Historic  Faith,  p.  164. 

*Rom.  xii.  6,  -npoipr^Teiav  xard  ttjv  d-vakoyiav  r^g  iziffreu)^. 


44  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

elements  of  our  creed.  None  are  to  be  disparaged; 
the  lesser  and  subordinate  truths  gain  their  full 
force  when  seen  in  relation  to  the  great  ruling  truths 
which  have  their  dominating  effect  on  life  and  con- 
duct. 

2.  Secondly,  we  must  act  upon  our  faith.  The 
figures  of  a  shield  with  which  to  ward  off  tempta- 
tion, and  of  a  foundation  on  which  to  rear  the  super- 
structure of  a  virtuous  life,  have  already  been  re- 
ferred to.  In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  the  Christian 
religion  is  spoken  of  as  "The  Way."^  It  is  a  path 
of  conduct  marked  out  by  Christ's  example  and 
precepts,  illuminated  and  made  reasonable  by  the 
great  truths  concerning  man's  origin  and  destiny 
and  his  relation  to  his  Maker.  We  must  add  to  our 
faith  virtue,  or  out  of  our  faith  develope  virtue,^ 
bringing  its  principles  to  bear  upon  all  departments 
of  human  life.  As  not  only  domestic  and  social, 
but  civic  and  commercial  life  likewise  are  seen  to 
be  penetrated  by  Christian  influences,  so  assuredly 
shall  we  adorn  and  recommend  the  doctrine  of  God 
our  Saviour.^ 

3.  Then,  certainly,  we  must  seek  to  spread  our 
faith.  Hesitancy  about  the  missionary  work  of  the 
Church,  indifference  to  her   enterprises,  is  due  to 

^  Acts  ix.  2,  xix.  9,  23,  xxiv.  14,  22. 

^ 2  Pet.  i.  5,  k-Kiy^oprjyy^aars  iv  r^  niaret  6jj.u)V  ttjv  dpeTTJv, 

'^  Titus  ii.  10. 


THE   EFFECT  OF   FAITH   ON   LIFE        46 

want  of  a  clear  and  strong  faith.  Zeal  is  necessarily 
sapped  by  doubt.  A  real  acceptance  of  Jesus  as 
the  Messiah,  the  promised  Deliverer  and  Teacher, 
the  incarnate  Son  of  God,  in  whom  God  is  made 
known  to  men  and  man  is  brought  near  to  God, 
this  belief  will  necessarily  impel  us  to  do  all  in  our 
power  to  spread  to  others  what  we  have  learned  by 
experience  to  value  for  ourselves,  that  the  day- 
spring  from  on  high  may  visit  them,  to  give  light  to 
them  that  sit  in  darkness,  and  in  the  shadow  of 
death,  to  guide  their  feet,  with  ours,  into  the  way 
of  peace.^ 

*  Luke  i.  78,  79. 


n 

THE  EFFECT  OF  LIFE  ON  FAITH 


LECTURE  II 

THE  EFFECT  OF  LIFE   ON   FAITH. 

Faith  holds  the  position  of  extraordinary  im- 
portance which  is  attributed  to  it  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment Scriptures^  because  of  two  considerations,  its 
backward  and  its  forward  reach.  (1)  It  depends 
on  life.  It  is  a  test  of  a  man's  past,  of  his  obedience 
to  the  light  which  has  been  vouchsafed.  (2)  It  is  a 
motive — if  strong  and  clear,  a  determining  motive — 
for  his  future  conduct.  It  is  these  two  aspects  of 
faith  that  we  are  considering  in  these  lectures  on  the 
Relations  of  Faith  and  Life,  the  effect  of  Faith  on 
Life  and  of  J^ife  on  Faith. 

In  the  New  Testament  faith  means  more  than 
an  intellectual  recognition  of  a  statement  as  being 

^  E.g.  John  vi.  28,  29.  What  must  we  do,  that  we  may  work  the 
works  of  God  ?  This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  in  Him 
whom  He  sent. 

Acts  xvi.  30,  31.  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  Believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved. 

Acts  X.  43.  To  Him  bear  all  the  prophets  witness,  that  through 
His  name  every  one  that  believeth  on  Him  shall  receive  remission 
of  sins. 

Mark  xvi.  16.  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved; 
but  he  that  disbelieveth  shall  be  condemned. 
4  49 


50  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

true  in  fact,  or  of  a  person  as  really  possessing  the 
power  or  position  which  he  claims.  It  means  trust 
in  him  whose  word  we  accept,  obedience  and  self- 
surrender  to  him  whose  claims  we  acknowledge.* 
Mons.  Auguste  Sabatier  in  his  Religions  of  Authority 
and  the  Religion  of  the  Spirit,  makes  much  of  a  dis- 
tinction between  Faith  and  Belief,  "reserving  the 
first  expression  for  that  act  of  heart  and  will — an 
essentially  moral  act — whereby  man  accepts  the  gift 
of  God  and  his  forgiveness,  and  consecrates  himself 
to  him,  and  applying  the  second  to  that  intellectual 
act  by  which  the  mind  gives  its  consent  to  a  historic 
fact  and  to  a  doctrine."  "That  which  saves  the 
soul,"  he  continues,  "is  faith,  not  belief."^  Most 
true;    because  in  apostolic  use  and  judgment  that 

*  Bishop  Westcott  says,  "Faith  inckides  three  elements: 

1.  A  conviction  of  the  truth  of  that  to  which  it  is  directed. 

2.  A  quickening  of  love  by  which  the  conviction  is  made 
personal  confidence. 

3.  A  readiness  for  action  corresponding  to  the  conviction." 

The  Historic  Faith,  p.  175- 
Compare  Peter  Lombard  (lib.  Ill,  distinct.  XXIII,  4),  Aliud 
est  enim  credere  in  Deum,  aliud  credere  Deo,  aliud  credere  Deum. 
Credere  Deo,  est  credere  vera  esse  quae  loquitur,  quod  et  mali 
faciunt,  et  nos  credimus  homini,  sed  non  in  hominem.  Credere 
Deum,  est  credere  quod  ipse  sit  Deus,  quod  etiam  mali  faciunt. 
Credere  in  Deum,  est  credendo  amare,  credendo  in  eum  ire, 
credendo  ei  adhaerere  et  ejus  membris  incorporari.  Per  hanc 
fidem  justificatur  impius,  ut  deinde  ipsa  fides  incipiat  per  dilec- 
tionem  operari.  See  Note  C,  p.  84. 
2  Page  335. 


THE   EFFECT  OF   LIFE   ON   FAITH        51 

is  no  true  belief  which  is  merely  intellectual.^  But 
clearly  (and  this,  while  of  course  he  does  not  deny 
it,  Sabatier  fails  to  emphasize)  the  surrender  of 
heart  and  will  presuppose  the  intellectual  recogni- 
tion of  the  truth  which  is  to  mould,  or  the  person 
who  is  to  rule  the  life.  He  that  cometh  to  God  (or 
surrendereth  himself  to  Him)  must  first  believe  that 
He  is  (in  His  existence  as  a  living  personal  being), 
and  (in  His  moral  character)  that  He  shows  Himself 
a  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  Him."^ 

This  intellectual  recognition  of  personal  claims, 
as  the  basis  of  self-surrender,  is  certainly  the  mean- 
ing of  TTcffTi?  in  the  only  passage  in  which,  as  it 
happens,  the  noun  occurs  in  St.  John's  Gospel  or 
Epistles.^  "This  is  the  victory  that  overcame  the 

^  Gal.  V.  6,  TTtffTtg  St^  dydTrrj?  hspyno/ii^T].  "Faith  and 
love,  so  distinct  in  our  treatises  on  Christian  ethics,  nay  often 
in  the  pages  and  arguments  of  the  New  Testament,  are  in  the  liv- 
ing soul  practically  inseparable;  just  as  in  the  living  body  the 
nervous  and  arterial  systems  are  indissolubly  blended,  although 
for  the  purposes  of  science  they  must  be  studied  apart.  Yes! 
faith  which  worketh  by  love  is  the  only  faith  worthy  of  the  name, 
the  only  faith  which  justifies  the  sinner.  And  if  a  soul  loves,  it 
loves  because  it  already  believes,  because  by  one  spiritually  simple 
act  faith  has  detected  and  love  has  forthwith  embraced  its  only 
adequate  object," — Dr.  Liddon,  "Love  and  Knowledge,"  in 
Sermons  preached  on  Special  Occasions,  p.  289. 

^  Heb.  xi.  6. 

^  1  John  v.  4,  5.  The  word  is  found  in  four  places  in  the 
Revelation:  ii.  13,  xiv.  12,  Ti]v  Ttcffrtv  p.ou  (Itj^oo),  where  it 
must  have  an  objective   sense,  the  Christian  faith  or  religion; 


52  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

world,  our  faith.  Who  is  he  that  overcometh  the 
world  save  he  that  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Son 
of  God  ?  "  Belief  in  such  a  fact,  that  the  historical 
Jesus,  in  His  outward  lowliness,  poverty,  suffering, 
was  in  truth  the  Son  of  God,  supplies  motives  for 
triumphing  over  the  world's  temptations,  whether 
of  allurement  or  of  threat.^  And  this  belief  is  in 
itself  a  conquest  of  the  world,  a  victory  over  all  sorts 
of  worldly  considerations. 

It  is  often  supposed  that  the  acceptance  of  religious 
truth  is  as  simple  a  matter,  as  purely  an  intellectual 
process,  as  the  acceptance  of  mathematical  or  other 
abstract  truths.  But  this  supposition  is  entirely 
fallacious.  Life  and  character  have  much  to  do  in 
determining  faith.  Let  me  develope  this  thought 
under  four  heads,  and  then  show  how  it  is  consist- 
ently assumed  in  New  Testament  teaching. 

1.  Certain  moral  qualities  are  prerequisites  in  the 
quest  of  truth  of  any  kind.  The  student  of  medical, 
of  astronomical,  of  electrical  science,  equally  with 
the  divine,  must  show  diligence  and  perseverance, 
an  open  and  docile  mind,  freedom  from  prejudice 
or  envy  toward  others,  a  readiness  to  acknowledge 

ii.  19,  xiii.  10,  where,  associated  with  other  virtues,  it  has  a  sub- 
jective sense,  of  belief  or  trust.     See  Note  D,  p.  86. 

*  "Under  the  title,  'The  World,'  St.  John  gathers  up  the  sum 
of  all  the  limited,  transitory  powers  opposed  to  God  which  make 
obedience  difficult." — Westcott,  Epistles  of  St.  John,  p.  179. 


THE   EFFECT   OF   LIFE   ON   FAITH        53 

that  opinions  previously  held  had  been  mistaken. 
A  splendid  illustration  of  such  qualities  some  will 
have  read  in  the  Life  of  Pasteur,  with  his  indefati- 
gable industry,  his  minute  care,  his  scrupulous  en- 
deavour to  prove  himself  wrong  before  accepting  as 
certain  a  theory  which  to  himself  seemed  clearly 
established.^  Another  illustration,  in  a  different 
sphere,  may  be  seen  in  the  legend  placed,  in  ac- 
cordance with  his  own  wish,  upon  Bishop  Creigh- 
ton's  monument  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral, — "He 
tried  to  write  true  history."  In  the  words  of  Dr. 
Illingworth,^  "  If  we  look  at  the  world's  real  thinkers, 
and  the  lives  that  they  have  led,  we  see  at  once  that 
emotional  and  moral  qualities  of  no  mean  order 
are  involved  in  the  successful  pursuit  of  even  the 
simplest  science;  while  the  two  men  who  are  most 
associated,  in  the  English  mind,  with  the  develop- 
ment of  scientific  method — F.  Bacon  and  J.  S.  Mill 
— are  equally  emphatic  in  tracing  intellectual  falla- 
cies to  ethical  causes."^ 

2.  Where  the  subject  matter  is  religious  truth, 
there  is  an  added  need  of  moral  qualities,  because 
demands  are  made  upon  life  and  conduct  of  quite 

^  "In  experimental  science  it  is  always  a  mistake  not  to  doubt 
when  facts  do  not  compel  affirmation." — The  Life  of  Pasteur,  by 
Rene  Vallery-Radot  (trans,  by  Mrs.  Devonshire),  vol.  I,  p.  122. 

^  Personality,  Human  and  Divine,  p.  115. 

^SeeNoteE,  p.  87. 


54  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

a  different  character  from  any  which  are  involved 
in  the  acceptance  of  scientific  facts.*  A  man  has  no 
interest  in  denying  that  four  times  four  make  six- 
teen, or  that  two  sides  of  a  triangle  are  always 
greater  than  the  third  side.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
has  a  foresight  of  sacrifices  involved  in  the  acknowl- 
edgment that  Jesus  is  Lord.^ 

In  primitive  days  the  profession  of  Christianity 
meant  oftentimes  the  sacrifice  of  position,  of  posses- 
sions, of  friends,  and  reputation.  To  ally  oneself 
with  the  despised,  suspected,  hated  sect  of  the  Naz- 
arenes  was  to  incur  ridicule  and  scorn,  if  not  actual 
persecution.  No  wonder,  then,  that  St.  Paul,  who 
had  had  personal  experience  of  the  trial,  wrote,  "  Ye 
see  your  calling,  brethren,  how  that  not  many  wise 
men  after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many 
noble  are  called,"^  and  St.  James,  **Hath  not  God 
chosen  the  poor  of  this  world  to  be  rich  in  faith "?  "  ^ 
The  Lord  Himself  had  opened  His  beatitudes  with 
the  declaration,  "Happy  are  the  poor  in  spirit,  for 

*  For  the  development  of  this  thought  of  "  the  truant  action  of  the 
will  interfering  with  the  clear  and  direct  intuitions  of  the  intellect," 
see  Dr.  Liddon  on  "The  Conflict  of  Faith  with  undue  Exaltation 
of  Intellect,"  in  the  first  series  of  his  University  Sermons,  p.  169; 
(comp.  p.  11),  and  on  "Personal  Responsibility  for  the  gift  of 
Revelation,"  in  his  Sermons  preached  on  Special  Occasions,  p. 
150. 

2  1  Cor.  xii.  3.  ^1  Cor.  i.  26. 

*  James  ii.  5. 


THE   EFFECT  OF  LIFE   ON   FAITH        55 

theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  ^  and  had  warned 
of  the  hindrances  that  worldly  possessions  w  ould  put 
in  the  way  of  accepting  the  truth,  "  Verily  I  say  unto 
you,  that  a  rich  man  shall  hardly  (with  difficulty) 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  ^ 

The  case  is  the  same  to-day  in  heathen  countries, 
for  instance  in  India,  where  the  loss  of  caste,  with 
all  that  it  involves  in  exclusion  from  home  and 
family,  as  well  from  social  position  and  privileges, 
presents  a  formidable  barrier  to  the  Christian  en- 
quirer or  convert.^ 

And  is  it  wholly  different  among  ourselves,  when, 
in  the  midst  of  those  who  profess  and  call  themselves 
Christians,  a  young  man  gives  himself  to  a  thor- 
ough-going obedience  to  the  precepts  and  example  of 
Jesus  Christ,  or  in  correspondence  with  a  special 
vocation  desires  to  dedicate  his  life  and  substance 
to  His  entire  and  distinct  service?  Downright 
Christian  discipleship  will  certainly  involve  worldly 
loss  of  one  kind  or  another.  The  prevision  of  this 
must  necessarily  disturb  the  balance  of  calm  intel- 
lectual judgment.  For  the  acceptance  of  Christ's 
claims  there  is  needed  an  unworldly  spirit.  He  that 
would  be  Christ's  must  be  prepared  to  deny  himself 
and  take  up  his  cross.'*  , 

*  Matt.  V.  3.  2  Matt.  xix.  23. 

^  See  the  extremely  interesting  Life  of  Father  Goreh,  by  C.  E. 
Gardner  and  R.  M.  Benson.  ^  Mark  viii.  34. 


66  FAITH  AND   LIFE 

Moreover  sacrifices  of  a  more  personal  character 
are  involved,  not  only  in  the  initial  profession  of  the 
Christian  faith,  but  in  correspondence  with  any 
further  and  fuller  revelations  of  Christian  truth. 
A  man  perceives  that  this  or  that  cherished  indul- 
gence or  practice,  now  perhaps  doubtfully  allowed 
by  his  own  conscience,  is  condemned  by  the  Chris- 
tian law  and  would  be  incompatible  with  a  Christian 
profession. 

Among  the  main  factors  combining  to  create  the 
reactionary  movement  against  things  and  ways  for- 
eign which  was  felt  in  Japan  ten  years  or  so  ago, 
Mr.  Sidney  Gulick  reckons  the  high  ethical  demand 
of  Christianity  in  the  daily  life  of  professed  Chris- 
tians.^ "Another  factor  checking  the  rush  into  the 
Christian  Church  was  the  demand  of  Christian 
ethics.  Without  detailed  knowledge  of  Christianity 
many  eminent  men  had  been  advocating  its  wide 
adoption.  But  when  they  came  into  close  contact 
with  it,  and  learned  its  specific  requirements,  many 
drew  back.  When  they  discovered  that  to  be  a 
Christian  and  to  become  a  member  of  the  Church 
meant  the  giving  up  of  concubinage,  abstinence  from 
intoxicants,  from  carousals  at  tea-houses  and 
brothels,  that  it  involved  truth-telling  and  purity  in 
personal  life  with  active  participation  in  the  support 
and  propagation  of  the  new  faith,  many  hesitated 
*  The  White  Peril  in  the  Far  East,  p.  44. 


THE   EFFECT  OF   LIFE   ON   FAITH        57 

before  taking  the  radical  step.  They  had  supposed 
that  Christianity,  like  their  own  religion,  was  carried 
on  by  its  missionaries  and  pastors,  leaving  the  lay- 
man free  to  do  pretty  much  as  he  liked.  That  a 
religious  brotherhood  should  keep  strict  watch  over 
the  moral  conduct  of  its  members  was  a  new 
idea." 

How  many  persons  in  our  congregations  are  kept 
back  from  Baptism  or  Confirmation  by  this  sort  of 
consideration,  by  an  unwillingness  to  submit  to  a 
stricter  rule !  There  is  needed  a  readiness  to  follow 
where  truth,  if  acknowledged,  may  lead.  A  god- 
less life  indisposes  a  man  to  believe  in  the  God  of 
the  Christian  Scriptures,  whose  condemnation,  if  He 
really  exists,  the  man  knows  himself  to  deserve. 
Acknowledgment  of  such  doctrines  as  the  Incarna- 
tion, the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  sacra- 
mental grace,  is  seen  to  carry  with  it  consequences 
concerning  the  sacredness  of  the  human  body, 
which  make  far  more  heinous  sins  of  which  he  has 
been  accustomed  to  think  but  lightly,  and  involve  a 
degree  of  penitence  from  which  he  shrinks.^  He  is 
accordingly  naturally  indisposed  to  accept  such 
doctrines;  as  he  is  naturally  inclined  to  wish  that 
New  Testament  teaching  concerning  future  punish- 
ment or  loss  may  not  be  true,  since,  if  it  be  so,  his 
own  condition  must  be  one  of  grave  peril.  In  all 
^  1  Cor.  vi.  19. 


58  FAITH    AND    LIFE 

such  cases  the  will  has  a  subtle  but  strong  purchase 
over  the  understanding  in  matters  of  belief.  As  St. 
Thomas  Aquinas  says.  Unbelief,  while  intellectual 
in  form  and  expression,  frequently  has  its  ground 
and  roots  in  the  heart  and  will,  the  moral  nature.^ 
Our  time  and  circumstances  differ  from  those  of 
Massillon.  But  to  not  a  few  amongst  us  might  be 
applied  the  severe  characterization  given  in  his  ser- 
mon on  "  Doubts  about  Religion  " :  *'  The  greatest 
part  of  those  who  call  themselves  unbelievers  are 
licentious  enough  to  wish  to  be  so;   too  ignorant  to 

^  Summa,  Sec.  Secundae,  qu.  x,  art.  iii.  "Dissentire,  qui  est 
proprius  actus  infidelitatis  est  actus  intellectus,  sed  moti  a 
voluntate,  sicut  et  assentire."  "Infidelitas,  sicut  et  fides,  est  qui- 
dem  in  intellectu  sicut  in  proximo  subjecto;  in  voluntate  autem 
in  principio  motivo."  "Causa  infidelitatis  est  in  voluntate;  sed 
ipsa  infidelitas  est  in  intellectu." 

This  is  the  meaning  of  St.  Augustine's  famous  phrase,  qui 
voluerunt  crediderunL  In  a  sermon  on  St.  John  xvi.  9,  he  is 
refuting  the  excuse  of  those  who  said  they  were  hindered  by  the 
devil  from  believing  in  Christ.  But  the  devil  has  been  cast  out, 
so  that  he  can  no  longer  keep  back  from  the  truth  those  who  have 
the  will  to  receive  it.  He  is  now  only  allowed  to  attack  us  from 
without,  and  the  martjTS,  not  only  men,  but  even  women,  and 
boys,  and  girls,  have  overcome  him. 

Recte  itaque  idem  Spiritus  arguit  mundum,  et  de  peccato,  quia 
non  credit  in  Christum:  et  de  justitia,  quia  qui  voluerunt  credi- 
derunt,  quamvis  in  quern  crediderunt  non  viderunt;  et  per  ejus 
resurrectionem  se  quoque  in  resurrectione  perfici  speraverunt: 
et  de  judicio,  quia  ipsi  si  vellent  credere,  a  nullo  perdirentur, 
quoniam  princeps  hujus  mundi  jam  judicatus  est.  Serm.  cxliii. 
de  verb.  Ev.  Johxm, 


THE   EFFECT   OF   LIFE   ON   FAITH        59 

be  so  in  reality;    and  nevertheless  sufficiently  vain 
to  wish  to  appear  so."  * 

3.  We  may  take  a  further  step,  and  see  that  for 
the  acceptance  of  religious  truth  a  certain  spiritual 
sympathy  is  required.  Like  knows  like,  the  com- 
mon proverb  says.  St.  John  is  only  applying  this 
principle  when  he  declares,  "He  that  loveth  not, 
knoweth  not  God,  for  God  is  love."  ^  Let  us  look 
at  this  more  closely.  Pride,  or  the  inordinate  love  of 
self,  is  an  obstacle  to  faith.  There  is  not  only  the 
foolish  pride  which  fancies  that  scepticism  is  a  sign 
of  superior  intelligence,  as  if  the  last  word  of  culture 
were  the  confession  of  ignorance  concerning  man's 
deepest  interests;  and  the  pride  which  rebels  at  the 
idea  of  mystery,  practically  refusing  to  acknowledge 
the  limitations  of  the  human  intellect ;  a  more  subtle 
but  deeper  obstacle  is  the  pride  which  is  repelled 
by  the  lowliness  of  the  Incarnation,  that  cannot 
understand  how  God  should  stoop  so  low,  since 
such  conduct  is  inconceivable  for  itself.  The  ex- 
clamation of  Nestorius,  "I  will  never  accept  an 
infant  of  three  months  for  my  God,"  may  have  been 
due  to  a  misunderstanding  of  the  Catholic  doctrine 

^  La  plupart  de  ceux  qui  se  disent  incredules  dans  le  monde 
sont  assez  deregles  pour  desirer  de  1'  etre,  trop  ignorants  pour  I'etre 
en  effet,  et  assez  vains  cependant  pour  vouloir  le  paroitre.  Ser- 
mon, Des  Doutes  sur  la  Religion.     (Euvres,  t.  iv. 

^  1  John  iv.  8. 


60  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

of  the  Incarnation.  Similar  denials  of  the  faith 
may  not  infrequently  be  traced  to  a  moral  source. 
Selfishness  is  incapable  of  understanding  the  self- 
sacrifice  of  the  Cross.  If  the  doctrine  of  the  Re- 
demption be  accepted,  it  is  too  often  perverted  and 
misrepresented  in  the  interest  of  selfishness,  to  the 
extent  of  a  caricature.  The  offering  of  the  all  but 
infinite  suffering  of  the  Innocent  in  satisfaction  for 
the  sins  of  the  guilty,  enabling  them,  if  only  thor- 
oughly persuaded  of  their  personal  share  in  this 
arrangement,  to  live  at  ease,  has  been  substituted, 
in  the  popular  conception,  for  the  New  Testament 
teaching  of  a  victorious  struggle  with  evil  on  the 
part  of  our  great  Representative,  with  which  strug- 
gle we  must  associate  ourselves  under  His  leader- 
ship if  we  would  benefit  by  His  self-sacrifice.  "  Know 
ye  not  that  so  many  of  us  as  were  baptized  into 
Jesus  Christ  were  baptized  into  His  death  ^  Our  old 
man  was  crucified  with  Him,  ...  that  henceforth 
we  should  not  serve  sin."  "They  that  are  Christ's 
crucified  the  flesh  with  its  lusts  and  passions."  ^ 

In  the  case  of  a  human  personality  sympathy  is 
needed  for  any  real  understanding  of  another's 
character.  Again  we  quote  Dr.  Illingworth,^  "Not 
only  must  the  necessary  insight  be  the  result  of  our 
own   acquired   capacities — which   will   have   to   be 

^  Rom.  vi.  3,  6,  Gal.  v.  24;  comp.  Col.  iii.  init,  2  Cor.  v.  14,  15. 
^Personality,  Human  and  Divine,  p.  117. 


THE   EFFECT   OF   LIFE   ON   FAITH        61 

great,  in  proportion  to  the  greatness  of  the  person- 
aHty  with  which  we  have  to  deal — but  there  must 
further  exist  the  kind  and  degree  of  affinity  between 
us,  which  only  can  make  self -revelation  on  his  part 
possible.  Plato,  for  instance,  the  spiritual  philoso- 
pher, saw  more  profoundly  into  Socrates  than  could 
Xenophon,  his  companion  in  arms.  Shakespeare 
and  de  Balzac,  in  their  different  spheres,  were  un- 
rivalled students  of  humanity:  yet  the  latter  could 
not  see  in  it  pure  womanhood,  the  former  has  never 
painted  a  saint,  so  essentially  is  even  the  intuition 
of  genius  qualified  by  character."  The  generous  ap- 
preciate simplicity,  the  chivalrous  purity;  while  to 
the  mean  and  sensual  such  virtues  are  incompre- 
hensible puzzles.  This,  I  repeat,  is  the  principle 
which  St.  John  enunciates  when  he  says,  "  Love  is 
of  God — has  its  source,  as  v^  ell  as  its  perfect  realiza- 
tion, in  Hini — and  every  one  that  loveth  is  begotten 
of  God — derives  from  God  his  moral  and  spiritual 
life — and  knoweth  God.  He  that  loveth  not — 
whatever  else  he  knoweth — knoweth  not  God;  for 
God  is  love."  ^ 

^  1  John  iv.  7,  8.  See  Westcott,  The  Epistles  of  St.  John,  p. 
148.  "He  that  loveth  derives  his  spiritual  being  from  God,  and 
of  necessity  therefore  is  in  sjniipathy  with  Him,  and  knows  Him 
(yiyvcofTxti),  that  is,  recognizes  every  revelation  which  shows 
more  of  Him."  "As  the  presence  of  active  love  is  the  pledge  of 
advancing  knowledge,  so  the  absence  of  love  is  the  proof  that 
apparent  knowledge  was  not  real.   'He  that  loveth  not,  knew  not 


62  FAITH    AND   LIFE 

4.  Once  more.  Spiritual  things  are  spiritually 
discerned.*  Spiritual  faculties  must  therefore  be 
developed.  Otherwise  they  will  surely  lose  their 
vigor  and  gradually  become  atrophied,  as  surely 
as  unexercised  members  of  the  physical  body,  or 
unused  powers  of  mind.  The  conscience,  like  the 
memory,  requires  training.  Habits  of  prayerlessness 
incapacitate  a  man  for  spiritual  vision,  as  sensuality 
dims  the  eye  of  the  soul,  and  worldliness,  with  its 
greed  of  gain  and  honour,  smothers  higher  aspira- 
tions.^ "Practical  materialism  is  not  a  creed  issu- 
ing in  a  conduct,  but  a  conduct  issuing  in  a  creed; 
it  means  sensuality  in  one  form  or  another,  a  life 
interested  in  and  therefore  exclusively  attentive  to 
the  enjoyments  and  employments  of  sense.  "^  Man 
is  not  a  merely  intellectual,  any  more  than  a  merely 
animal,  being.  He  is  endowed  with  heart  and  con- 
science. It  is  to  the  whole  man  that  God  appeals. 
It  is  by  the  balanced  and  harmonious  exercise  of  all 
our  faculties  that  His  word  is  to  be  recognized  and 
welcomed.  Again  and  again  instances  occur  where 
intellectual  arguments  are  fairly  balanced,  and 
moral  considerations  turn  the  scale.     The  sense  of 

God'  (oox  e^vw),  when  he  made  profession  of  knowing  Him. 
His  acknowledgment  of  God  (as  at  Baptism)  was  based  on  no 
true  recognition  of  His  natm-e." 

*  1  Cor.  ii.  14. 

2  2  Cor.  iv.  3,  4. 

^  Dlingworth,  Reason  and  Revelation,  p.  175. 


THE   EFFECT   OF   LIFE  ON  FAITH        63 

duty,  the  instinct  of  right,  an  impulse  of  affection, 
come  to  the  rescue  of  a  perplexed  and  bewildered 
intellect.  The  pure  in  heart,  not  the  keen  in  mind, 
see  God,  and  understand  the  things  of  God.^ 

There  are  arguments  of  a  distinctly  moral  char- 
acter on  the  side  of  Christian  belief  that  require 
moral  judgment  for  their  weighing;  as  the  con- 
sideration that,  if  God  really  exists,  there  is  an 
antecedent  probability  that  He  would  reveal  Him- 
self to  man,  and  not  allow  yearnings  and  aspirations 
which  He  has  implanted  in  our  nature  to  be  cheated 
or  mocked.  Again,  the  appeal  of  Christ's  moral 
character  in  evidence  of  His  claims  requires  appre- 
ciation of  moral  beauty.^  The  hearing  ear  and  the 
seeing  eye  are  needed. 

The  conscience  when  cultivated  becomes  more 
and  more  delicate  and  keen  in  its  perceptions  and 
judgments.  In  this  sense  most  certainly  does  the 
law  of  retribution  work :  "  He  that  hath  to  him  shall 
be  given,  and  from  him  that  hath  not  shall  be  taken 
even  that  which  he  hath."^     As  on  the  one  hand  we 

^  Matt.  V.  8. 

^John  vii.  16-18.  The  Jews  were  unable  to  appreciate  the 
perfectly  disinterested  claims  and  conduct  of  Jesus  (comp.  v.  43). 
Men  are  naturally  inclined  to  receive  those  (like  political  adven- 
turers) who  act  on  the  same  principles  of  self-interest  with  them- 
selves. 

'  Mark  iv.  24.  The  appropriation  of  any  measure  of  Divine 
truth  implies  a  capacity  for  receiving  more;  and  each  gift,  if  assim- 


64  FAITH   AND    LIFE 

may  come  to  know  with  an  experimental  certainty 
spiritual  truths  which  at  first  we  believed  on  others' 
testimony,^  so,  on  the  other  hand,  truth  not  acted 
upon  becomes  less  clear  and  fades  away.  As  men 
have  not  liked  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge, 
God  has  given  them  over  to  a  reprobate,  that  is, 
an  undiscerning  mind.^ 

Dr.  Illingworth  points  out  how  this  difference  in 
intellectual  attitude  resulting  from  moral  causes, 
agrees  with  the  stress  laid  by  modern  psychology  on 
the  part  played  by  interest  and  attention,  that  is,  by 
feeling  and  will,  in  determining  our  experience,  and 
therefore  our  knowledge.  *'Take  the  case  of  a 
child  who  has  been  carefully  trained  from  infancy 
to  admire  goodness,  to  obey  conscience,  to  prefer 
duty  to  pleasure;  who  has  responded  to  this  teach- 
ing during  those  early  days  in  which  the  founda- 
tions of  character  are  laid,  and  continues  this  re- 
sponse during  mature  years;  and  contrast  it  with 
that  of  one  who,  with  progressive  abandonment,  has 
pursued   pleasure   and   self-will.     The   former  will 

ilated,  is  the  forerunner  of  another.  Bede:  qui  amorem  habet 
verbi  dabitur  illi  etiam  sensus  intellegendi  quod  amat.  But  the 
converse  is  also  true:  incapacity  for  receiving  truth  leads  to  a  loss 
of  truth  already  in  some  sense  possessed.  The  paradoxical  form 
of  the  original  tradition  is  removed  by  Luke,  who  writes  o  8oxet 
e;^££v— H.  B.  Swete  on  St.  Mark,  p.  79. 

*  2  Pet.  i.  5.    See  Note  F.  p.  88. 

2  Rom.  i.  28. 


THE   EFFECT   OF   LIFE   ON   FAITH        65 

have  gained  a  more  accurate  sense  of  the  distinction 
between  good  and  evil ;  he  will  know  goodness  from 
the  inside,  and  consequently  feel  its  attraction;  in 
the  language  of  the  psychologists,  he  will  be  inter- 
ested in  it,  and  therefore  direct  his  attention  to  it, 
and  therefore  recognize  it  wherever  it  exists.  But 
the  latter — it  is  a  fact  of  daily  experience — will 
gradually  lose  his  sense  of  moral  distinctions,  till 
he  is  unable  to  recognize  goodness  when  he  sees  it, 
attributing  its  appearance  to  unworthy  motives, 
assimilating  it,  that  is,  to  the  only  thing  that  he  now 
knows,  and  regarding  it  as  a  form  of  evil."  "  Hence 
while  the  moral  insight  of  the  bad  man  is  progres- 
sively atrophied,  that  of  the  good  man  is  intensified 
as  years  go  on.  And  it  is  obvious  how  this  will 
affect  their  estimate  of  the  moral  evidences  of  re- 
ligion. Tl;e  prevalence  of  pain  in  the  world,  for 
example,  will  afford  hopeless  perplexity  to  the  man 
for  whom  pleasure  is  the  only  good;  whereas  the 
man  who  can  so  recognize  its  disciplinary  value  as 
to  say,  *  It  is  good  for  me  that  I  have  been  in 
trouble,'  will  to  that  extent,  at  any  rate,  see  in  it 
a  proof,  instead  of  a  disproof,  of  the  goodness  of 
God."i 

In  such  considerations  as  the  foregoing  we  see  an 
ample  justification  of  the  importance  attached  to 
^  Reason  and  Revelation,  pp.  168,  169, 


66  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

faith  in  the  New  Testament,  an  importance  which 
would  be  altogether  unintelligible  if  faith  were 
merely  an  intellectual  assent.  Faith  comes  under 
the  head  of  moral  certainties.  There  is  always,  as 
indeed  is  the  case  with  belief  in  our  fellow  men,  a 
certain  venture  in  faith,  a  trusting  to  evidence  falling 
short  of  absolute  proof,  which  the  witness  of  the 
heart  and  conscience  justifies.^  We  trust  the  integ- 
rity of  a  friend  against  adverse  appearances  not 
merely  because  we  cannot  bear  to  think  of  his  char- 
acter as  stained,  but  because  our  love  and  intimacy 
have  enabled  us  to  see  in  him  what  others  have  not 
seen,  and  what  we  are  sure  will  vindicate  our 
trust.  Accordingly  our  Lord  declares  it  to  be 
the  mark  of  an  evil  and  adulterous  generation 
to  seek  after  a  sign.  The  heart,  He  means, 
not  being  attuned  in  faithful  love,  does  not  read- 
ily perceive  God's  word,  it  requires  compelling  ev- 
idence.^ 

It  is  in  the  Fourth  Gospel  more  particularly,  but 

^  See  chap.  ii.  in  A  Christian  Apologetic,  by  Dr.  W.  L.  Robbins, 
now  Dean  of  the  General  Theological  Seminary.  "In  seeking  to 
prove  that  it  is  reasonable  to  believe,  we  do  not  take  upon  ourselves 
the  task  of  pretending  an  irrefragable  demonstration.  .  .  .  Spir- 
itual things,  from  their  very  nature,  are  not  to  be  demonstrated  by 
any  purely  intellectual  process.  The  most  that  reason  can  do  is 
to  clear  the  ground;  its  function  is  only  indirect  in  generating 
belief."    P.  12. 

^  Matt.  xii.  39;  comp.  John  xx,  29,  iv.  48. 


THE   EFFECT   OF  LIFE   ON  FAITH        67 

by  no  means  exclusively,^  that  this  view  of  faith  and 
its  moral  aspect  is  insisted  upon.  Every  manifesta- 
tion of  Christ  is  represented  as  having  a  judicial 
character;  His  coming  is  always  a  xpht?,  testing 
man's  present  disposition,  showing  what  has  been 
his  previous  correspondence  with  intimations  of 
God's  mind  and  will.  The  constant  teaching  of 
our  Lord  is  summed  up  in  His  great  declaration, 
"  God  sent  not  His  Son  into  the  world  to  judge  (or 
condemn)  the  world;  but  that  the  world  through 
Him  might  be  saved.  He  that  believeth  on  Him  is 
not  condemned:  but  he  that  believeth  not  is  con- 
demned already,  because  he  hath  not  beheved  in 
the  name  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God.  And 
this  is  the  condemnation,  that  light  is  come  into  the 
world,  and  men  loved  darkness  rather  than  light, 
because  their  deeds  were  evil.  For  every  one  that 
practiseth  evil  hateth  the  light,  neither  cometh  to 
the  light,  lest  his  deeds  should  be  reproved.  But 
he  that  doeth  truth  cometh  to  the  light,  that  his 
deeds  may  be  made  manifest,  that  they  are  wrought 
in  God."  2 

^  Acts  xiii.  48,   i-rtiareoaav  oaoi  ^(jav  TeTayfxivot  eig   ^lorjv 

Luke  ii.  34,  xtixai  ej?  izruxnv  xa\  dvdffrafftv  tcoXXwv. 
2  Cor.  iv.  3,  4.     This  of  course  is  the  justification  of  Mark 
xvi.  16. 
^  Johniii.  17-21.     He  did  not  come  to  judge  {obx  ha  xphrj), 
yet  judgment  must  necessarily  follow  (e/s"  xpifia  ix.  39).     Our 


68  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

The  very  word  that  He  has  spoken,  Christ  warns, 
will  judge  men  at  the  last  day.^ 

"Why  do  ye  not  understand  my  speech?"  He 
asks  of  the  cavilling  Jews ;  and  Himself  answers  the 
question,  *' Because  ye  cannot  hear  my  word."  His 
outward  discourse  (XaXia)  was  unintelligible  to 
them,  because  they  were  too  obtuse  to  hear  its 
counterpart  within  Q-oyo^)? 

"He  that  is  of  God — ^who  derives  from  God  his 
moral  life — heareth  God's  words:  ye  therefore  hear 
them  not,"  He  declares,  "because  ye  are  not  of 
God."  Ye  may  be  called  His  children  by  outward 
and  federal  relationship,  but  there  is  no  inner  cor- 
respondence of  character.^ 

"Ye  have  not  His  word  abiding  in  you;"  it  is 
purely  external,  in  your  hands,  not  in  your  hearts.^ 

"Had  ye  believed  Moses,  ye  would  have  believed 
me,"  since  the  whole  teaching  and  discipline  of  the 
Law  was  a  preparation  for  His  coming." 

Lord  is  the  world's  Saviour;  yet  His  message  is,  and  cannot  but 
be,  its  judge.  "Every  revelation  of  God,  every  interposition  of 
His  Providence,  every  added  light,  every  motion  of  His  grace, 
must  needs  involve  a  sifting  time.  The  more  the  light  shines,  the 
more,  through  that  free-will,  with  which  God  has  endowed  us, 
must  men  come  into  the  light  or  retreat  into  darkness.  The  choice 
brings  out  what  they  were,  and,  if  evil,  aggravates  it."  Dr. 
Pusey,  "The  Responsibility  of  Intellect  in  Matters  of  Faith," 
p.  31,  in  his  University  Sermons,  vol.  III. 

^  John  xii.  48.  ^  John  viii.  43.  ^  John  viii.  47. 

^  John  V.  38.  '  John  v.  46, 


THE   EFFECT   OF   LIFE   ON   FAITH        69 

"His  sheep,"  the  good  Shepherd  declares,  '*hear 
His  voice;"  those  who,  whether  in  the  Jewish  fold 
or  in  some  other  preparatory  dispensation,  have 
been  taught  and  trained  by  Him,  even  though  they 
knew  but  dimly  \^Tio  it  was  that  spoke  to  them, 
recognize  the  sweet  authority  of  His  voice  when  He 
comes  in  plainer  manifestation.  Obedience  to 
known  truth  is  the  condition  of  receiving  further 
revelations.* 

To  Pilate  He  declares,  "  Every  one  that  is  of  the 
truth  heareth  my  voice."  Think  of  the  real  signifi- 
cance of  that  scene.  In  outward  appearance,  Jesus, 
the  prophet  of  Nazareth,  stands  before  the  tribunal 
of  the  Roman  governor,  a  prisoner  accused  of  re- 
bellion against  Csesar.  To  a  deeper  view,  Pontius 
Pilate  is  being  judged  by  the  Word  of  God  for  dis- 
loyalty to  His  utterances  in  the  man's  conscience. 
Had  these  been  faithfully  obeyed,  there  would  have 
followed  recognition  of  the  Word  now  clothed  in 
flesh.  "  Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth  heareth  my 
voice.    ^ 

*'If  any  man  willeth  to  do  the  will  of  God,  he," 
Christ  promises,  "shrJl  know  of  the  teaching, 
whether  it  be  of  God,  or  whether  I  speak  from  my- 
self." ^  Obedience  is  the  road  to  faith.  Moral 
obstacles   in   the   way   of   belief   are   removed    by 

*  John  X.  3, 14-16,  27.  ^  John  xviii.  37. 

^  John  vii.  17. 


70  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

obedience;  a  favourable  atmosphere  for  spiritual 
vision  is  formed. 

On  the  other  hand,  He  asks  of  the  ruling  classes 
of  the  Jews,  **How  can  ye  believe,  who  receive 
honour  one  from  another,  and  seek  not  the  honour 
which  Cometh  from  the  only  God  ?  "  (that  is,  the  only 
being  from  whom  it  is  really  worth  while  to  seek 
praise.)^  The  vision  of  truth  is  distorted  by  pride, 
vainglory,  and  self-interest.  So  it  was  that  many 
of  the  chief  rulers,  although  convinced  of  the  truth 
of  the  claims  of  Jesus,  dared  not  acknowledge  Him, 
for  fear  lest  they  should  be  put  out  of  the  synagogue ; 
they  loved  and  valued  the  praise  of  men  more  than 
the  praise  of  God.^ 

Quite  naturally  St.  John,  remembering  this  re- 
iterated teaching  of  his  Master,  laid  down  in  his 
Epistle  the  principle  and  text,  "He  that  knoweth 
God  heareth  us,"  or  more  literally,  He  who  is  learn- 
ing to  know  God  (o  yiyvdxjxojv  Tov  0£ov),  as  He  pre- 
sents Himself  in  conscience,  in  nature,  in  earlier  re- 
ligious teaching, — he  listens  to  us,  His  messengers 
and  witnesses.^ 

Here  we  see  (do  we  not?)  the  meaning  of  our 

^  V.  44.  ^  xii.  42,  43;  comp.  ix.  22. 

^  1  John  iv.  6.  The  true  disciple  is  represented  "  as  one  who 
is  ever  advancing  in  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  whose  power  of 
hearing  and  learning  is  given  by  this  attitude  of  faithful  expec- 
tancy."— Westcott,  EpisUes  of  St.  John,  p.  145. 


THE   EFFECT   OF   LIFE   ON   FAITH        71 

Lord's  words  which  sometimes  have  seemed  puzz- 
ling: "All  that  the  Father  giveth  me  shall  come  to 
me,  and  him  that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out ; "  "  No  one  cometh  to  me  except  the  Father 
who  sent  me  draw  him;"  "Every  one  who  heareth 
from  the  Father,  and  so  learneth,  cometh  to  me."^ 

"We  are  given  to  Christ  of  God,  not  by  any 
arbitrary  selection  which  the  Father  makes,  but  as 
a  true  consequence  of  having  used  more  or  less 
aright  the  moral  nature  which  the  Father  had 
given."  ^  All  who  are  true  to  that  moral  nature 
which  God  has  implanted  in  man  will  come  to  this 
fuller  manifestation  of  God  vouchsafed  in  Christ. 
They  will  recognize  it,  be  prepared  for  it,  welcome 
it  as  the  satisfaction  of  their  longings  and  needs. 
The  law  given  in  conscience,  as  well  as  that  given 
through  Moses,  is  a  T.aidaywyo^;  to  prepare  us 
for  Christ.^  This  preparatory  function  it  fulfils 
both  by  presenting  a  high  ideal  of  human  sanctity 
to  the  soul,  so  that  when  One  came  who  realized 

*  John  vi.  37,  44,  45.  Note  the  Greek  of  ver.  37,  ttccv  o  diduxjt 
fxoi  6  -azT/p  7r/?o?  ^,as  fyl^er  xai  rov  ip^6fi£\>ov  7:p6<^  fie  oh  fiij 
^£Xj3dXaj  e^o). 

^  Bihle  Teachings  (St.  John  vi.),  by  R.  M.  Benson,  p.  25. 

^  Gal.  iii.  24.  See  Dr.  Liddon  on  the  "Tutorial  Office  of  the 
Jewish  Law,"  in  his  Sermons  on  some  words  of  St.  Paid.  Dr. 
Bigg  describes  the  Tzacdayajyo^  as  "half  valet,  half  tutor;  his 
duties  were  to  act  as  body-servant,  to  convey  his  young  master  to 
and  from  school,  and  to  see  that  the  tasks  were  properly  prepared." 
— The  Church's  Task  under  the  Roman  Empire,  p.  18. 


72  FAITH   AND    LIFE 

that  ideal  men  would  accept  Him,  and  also  by  mak- 
ing the  sense  of  personal  shortcoming  so  keen  that 
they  would  gladly  welcome  His  offer  of  aid  by  which 
to  attain  this  standard. 

In  one  of  his  many  sermons  dealing  with  this 
moral  side  of  faith,  Dr.  Newman  shows  how  these 
principles  which  we  have  seen  laid  down  in  St. 
John's  writings  are  historically  illustrated  in  the 
Synoptic  Gospels  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.^ 
"As  far  as  we  can  trace  the  history,  we  find  the 
early  Christian  Church  was  principally  composed  of 
those  who  had  long  been  in  the  habit  of  obeying 
their  consciences  carefully,  and  so  preparing  them- 
selves for  Christ's  religion,  that  kingdom  of  God 
from  which  they  were  not  far.^  Zacharias  and 
Elizabeth,  to  whom  the  approach  of  Christ's  king- 
dom was  first  revealed,  are  described  as  'both  right- 
eous before  God,  walking  in  all  the  commandments 
of  the  Lord,  blameless.'^  Joseph,  St.  Mary's  hus- 
band, is  called  'a  just  man';^  Simeon  is  spoken  of 
as  *a  just  and  devout  man';  Nathanael,  as  'an 
Israelite  in  whom  was  no  guile';"  Joseph  of  Ari- 
mathea  was  'a  good  man  and  a  just';^  Cornelius, 
the  centurion,  was  a  'religious  man,  and  one  that 

^  "Obedience  to  God  the  Way  to  Faith  in  Christ,"  Parochial 
and  Plain  Sermons,  vol.  VIII,  p.  207. 

2  Mark  xii.  34.  ^  Luke  i.  6. 

^  Matt.  i.  19.  '  Luke  ii.  25. 

^  John  i.  47.  '  Luke  xxiii.  50. 


THE   EFFECT   OF   LIFE   ON   FAITH        73 

feared  God  with  all  his  house,  who  gave  much  alms 
to  the  people,  and  prayed  to  God  alway/^  And  in 
the  book  of  iVcts  generally,  we  shall  find  (as  far  as 
we  are  told  anything)  that  those  chiefly  were  ad- 
dressed and  converted  by  St.  Paul,  who  had  pre- 
viously trained  themselves  in  a  religious  life: — ^At 
Perga,  St.  Paul  addressed  the  Israelites  and  those 
who  feared  God,  not  the  mere  thoughtless  heathen; 
and  many  of  these  followed  him.^  At  Thessalonica 
a  great  multitude  of  religious  Greeks  believed;^  and 
at  Athens  the  Apostle  still  disputed  with  the  Jews, 
and  with  the  professedly  religious  persons,  though 
he  also  addressed  the  educated  heathens  who  lived 
there.  Here  then  is  much  evidence  that  Christ  and 
His  Apostles  chiefly  sought  and  found  their  first 
followers,  not  among  open  sinners,  but  among  those 
who  were  endeavoring,  however  imperfectly,  to  obey 
God." 

In  conclusion  let  me  sum  up  what  has  been  said 
in  three  practical  hints. 

1.  We  see  how  faith  may  be  lost.^     We  are  some- 

*  Acts  X.  2.  ^  Acts  xiii.  ^  Acts  xvii. 

*  "It  is  a  childish  error  to  conceive  that  one  can  believe  once  for 
all;  as  well  say  that  one  can  love  once  for  all.  Faith  is  the  soul's 
grasp  on  God,  that  hold  may  slacken,  aye,  be  lost,  save  as  the 
eager  endeavour  of  the  spirit  makes  it  firmer  day  by  day.  Faith 
never  remains  stationary,  it  is  ever  increasing  or  diminishing.    It 


74  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

times  surprised  and  perplexed  at  professions  of  un- 
belief on  the  part  of  one  whose  convictions  had 
seemed  both  intelligent  and  strong.  God  forbid 
that  in  any  particular  case  we  should  presume  to 
pronounce  judgment  upon  the  person  who  has  lost 
hold  on  what  had  been  a  prized  possession.  But  it 
should  be  plainly  said  that  there  is  at  least  the  possi- 
bility that  loss  of  faith  may  be  due  to  a  lowering  of 
moral  fibre.  The  mystery  of  the  faith — the  revela- 
tion of  God  in  Christ — must  be  held,  as  St.  Paul 
reminds  Timothy,  in  a  pure  conscience.  "A  true 
belief  will  not  long  survive  unfaithfulness  to  God's 
inward  voice."  Some,  the  Apostle  says,  having  put 
away,  or  thrown  overboard,  a  good  conscience,  have 
made  shipwreck  of  the  faith. ^  Christian  faith,  in 
its  fullest  sense,  is  an  interior  habit  of  the  soul,  the 
result  of  the  indwelling  of  the  Spirit  of  truth.  But 
crooked  thoughts  separate  from  God.  Into  a  mali- 
cious soul  wisdom  will  not  enter,  nor  dwell  in  the  body 
which  is  subject  unto  sin.  The  holy  spirit  of  disci- 
pline will  flee  deceit,  and  remove  from  thoughts  that 
are  without  understanding,  and  will  be  put  to  confu- 
sion when  unrighteousness  cometh  in.^     The  Spirit 

demands  sacrifice  of  every  kind  as  the  condition  of  its  growth. 
The  spirit  must  be  nerved  to  brave  effort,  or  it  will  inevitably  flag 
in  its  task." — Robbins,  An  Essay  toward  Faith,  p.  92. 

^  1  Tim.  iii.  9,  i.  19,  and  Dr.  Liddon's  comment  on  the  latter 
passage. 

2  Wisdom  i.  3-5. 


THE  EFFECT  OF  LIFE   ON   FAITH        75 

of  truth  is  also  the  Spirit  of  love  and  purity.  We 
cannot  reckon  on  His  aid  and  guidance  for  one  pur- 
pose, if  we  are  not  seeking  it,  much  less  if  we  are 
rejecting  it,  for  another.  His  illumination  of  the 
mind  accompanies  His  purification  of  the  heart. 

2.  In  seasons  of  doubt  or  uncertainty,  such  as 
may  come  to  any  of  us,  we  must  not  fret  or  impa- 
tiently insist  on  an  immediate  solution  of  our  diffi- 
culties. The  temptation  at  such  times  is  to  treat 
everything  as  uncertain,  because  some  things  are  not 
clear.  On  the  contrary,  our  safety  is  found  in  tena- 
ciously clinging  to  all  the  truth  of  which  we  are  sure, 
in  removing  any  moral  obstacles  that  may  stand  in 
the  way  of  faith,  and  then  in  patiently  waiting  for 
clouds  to  pass,  for  fuller  and  clearer  ideas  to  dawn 
upon  us.  The  pure  in  heart  and  single-minded 
shall  see  God.^  Sooner  or  later  they  shall  come  to 
know  who 'follow  on  to  know  the  Lord.^  If  stress 
has  been  continually  laid  on  the  necessity  of  remov- 
ing moral  obstacles  which  hinder  acceptance  of  the 
truth,  let  us  not  forget  that  there  are  positive  virtues 
and  an  appropriate  temper  of  mind  which  fit  us  for 
the  reception  of  God's  word.  "To  the  meek 
mysteries  are  revealed."^  "Them  that  are  meek 
shall  He  guide  in  judgment,  and  such  as  are  gentle 
them  shall  He  learn  His  way."* 

*  Matt.  V.  8,  comp.  Luke  x.  21.  ^  Hos.  vi.  3. 

^  Ecclus.  iii.  19.  *  Ps.  xxv.  8,  comp.  James  i.  21. 


76  FAITH   AND   LIFE 

3.  So  likewise  in  our  endeavours  to  win  others  to 
the  faith,  whether  those  who  are  altogether  strangers 
to  its  claims  and  promises,  or  those  whom  we  would 
help  to  a  fuller  appreciation  of  its  blessing,  we  must 
be  constructive,  helping  them  to  be  true  to  all  they 
know,  building  up,  so  far  as  may  be,  their  moral 
life,  and  so  preparing  them  to  welcome  the  fuller 
illumination  and  strength  to  which  we  point.  In 
the  teaching  of  religious  truth,  whatever  foes  we 
may  have  to  battle  with,  we  have,  let  us  never  for- 
get it,  an  ally  within.  In  the  message  of  the  Chris- 
tian teacher  God  does  not  speak  to  any  for  the  first 
time.  None  start  perfectly  blank,  with  a  tabula 
rasa}  Reason  and  conscience  will  respond  to  the 
appeal,  recognizing  the  fuller  presentation  of  truth 
which  has  been  already  taught  in  less  clear  and 
harmonious  fashion.  There  is  an  order  in  Divine 
revelation.  The  Old  Testament  with  its  moral  pre- 
cepts goes  before  the  New  Testament  with  its  offers 
of  spiritual  aid.  Indifference  to  religious  truth, 
which  at  any  rate  in  a  professedly  Christian  country 
is  largely  due  to  moral  causes,  must  be  broken 
through  by  the  stern  rebukes  of  the  law  and  the 
prophets,  before  the  beauty  and  the  value  of  the 
gospel  will  be  appreciated.  John  the  Baptist  ever 
prepares  the  way  for  Jesus.  The  preaching  of  re- 
pentance  must   precede   the   proclamation    of   the 

^  On  intuitive  moral  perceptions,  see  Lecky,  Note  G,  p.  89. 


THE   EFFECT   OF   LIFE   ON    FAITH        77 

Lamb  of  God  that  takes  away  the  sin  of  the  world. 
To  one  who  is  really  in  earnest,  honestly  desiring 
to  translate  into  action  the  highest  ideal  of  moral 
truth  which  God  in  conscience  has  set  before  him, 
the  vast  moral  assistance  which  the  gospel  affords 
will  be  its  justification/  This  is  in  effect  the  con- 
stant teaching  of  the  great  Christian  apologist, 
Blaise  Pascal,  in  his  Pensees.  In  the  words  of  the 
late  Dean  Church,  himself  a  master  of  Christian 
divinity,  doctrinal  and  practical,  "It  is  implied  in 
every  line  of  Pascal  that  truth  in  religion  is  abso- 
lutely, and  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  de- 
pendent on  moral  purity  and  faithfulness.  It  is 
the  great  warning  of  Pascal,  that  if  men  would  find 
and  know  God,  they  must  begin  by  trying  to  do  His 
will;  they  must  act  according  to  the  greatness  of 
the  occasion,  and  to  the  laws  not  of  one  part  only, 
but  of  their  whole  human  nature;  they  must  pre- 
pare their  souls,  habits,  and  tempers  and  will,  as 
well  as  intellect."^ 

^  Comp.  Illingworth,  Reason  and  Revelation,  p.  147:  "It  is  only 
as  the  climax  of  the  religious  education  and  development  of  man- 
kind that  Christianity  presents  itself  to  the  world,  and  only  in  this 
connexion  that  it  can  be  understood." 

^  Pascal  and  other  Sermons,  p.  22. 


NOTES 

A.  Intimate  connexion  between  Faith  and  Morals 
in  Christianity. 

B.  Obstacles    to    Commercial    Development    in 
India. 

C.  Use  of  TitffTeuecv  in  N.  T. 

D.  Use  of  TztiTTc?  and  yj  Tztffrt?. 

E.  J.   S.  Mill  on  Moral   Sources   of   Erroneous 
Opinion. 

F.  Inward  Witness  to  the  Truth  of  the  Gospel. 

G.  Lecky  on  Intuitive  Moral  Perceptions. 


NOTES 

NOTE  A  (pp.  17,  28). 

The  Intimate    Connexion   between   Faith   and    Mobalb 
IN  Christianitt. 

Mr.  Lecky  thus  summarizes  the  causes  of  the  triumph 
of  Christianity:  "No  other  rehgion,  under  such  circumstances, 
had  ever  combined  so  many  distinct  elements  of  power  and 
attraction.  Unlike  the  Jewish  rehgion,  it  was  bound  by  no 
local  ties,  and  was  equally  adapted  for  every  nation  and  every 
class.  Unlike  Stoicism,  it  appealed  in  the  strongest  manner  to 
the  affections,  and  offered  all  the  charms  of  a  sympathetic  wor- 
ship. Unlike  the  Egyptian  rehgions,  it  united  with  its  distinctive 
teaching  a  pure  and  noble  system  of  ethics,  and  proved  itself  capa- 
ble of  realizing  it  in  action.  It  proclaimed,  amid  a  vast  move- 
ment of  social  and  national  amalgamation,  the  imiversal  brother- 
hood of  mankind.  Amid  the  softening  influence  of  philosophy 
and  civilization  it  taught  the  supreme  sanctity  of  love."  History 
of  European  Morals,  vol.  I,  p.  412.  Concerning  the  intimate  con- 
nexion between  morals  and  faith  in  the  Christian  Religion,  Mr. 
Lecky  says:  "To  incorporate  moral  culture  with  religion  .  .  . 
was  among  the  most  important  achievements  of  Christianity.  .  . 
It  was  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  Christianity,  that  its 
moral  influence  was  not  indirect,  casual,  remote,  or  spasmodic. 
Unlike  all  Pagan  rehgions,  it  made  moral  teaching  a  main  func- 
tion of  its  clergy,  moral  disciphne  the  leading  object  of  its  services, 
moral  dispositions  the  necessary  condition  of  the  due  performance 
of  its  rites.  By  the  pulpit,  by  its  ceremonies,  by  all  the  agencies 
of  power  it  possessed,  it  laboured  systematically  and  perseveringly 
for  the  regeneration  of  mankind.  Under  its  influence,  doctrines 
concerning  the  nature  of  God,  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  the 
duties  of  men,  which  the  noblest  intellects  of  antiquity  could  barely 


82  NOTES 

grasp,  have  become  the  truisms  of  the  village  school,  the  proverbs 
of  the  cottage  and  of  the  alley."  Vol.  II,  p.  2.  See  also  the  testi- 
mony of  the  experienced  missionary,  Bishop  Caldwell,  quoted  by 
Dennis,  Christian  Missions  and  Social  Progress,  vol.  I,  p.  72. 
"Undoubtedly  Indian  literature  contains  a  large  amount  of  moral 
teaching,  some  of  which  is  of  a  very  high  order;  but  it  is  a  remark- 
able circumstance,  and  one  which  European  Christians  find  it 
difficult  to  believe  or  even  to  comprehend,  that  this  moral  teaching 
is  totally  unconnected  with  religious  worship.  .  .  .  Morality  is 
supposed  to  consist  merely  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  our 
caste  and  station  towards  our  fellow-men.  .  .  .  Religion,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  supposed  to  rise  far  above  such  petty  considerations 
as  the  social  duties,  and  to  consist  solely  in  the  worship  of  the  gods 
by  means  of  the  appointed  praises,  prayers,  and  observances  in 
the  hope  of  obtaining  thereby  union  with  the  Supreme  Spirit  and 
final  emancipation.  The  duties  of  life  are  never  inculcated  in  any 
Hindu  temple.  The  discharge  of  these  duties  is  never  represented 
as  enjoined  by  the  gods,  nor  are  any  prayers  ever  offered  in  any 
temple  for  help  to  enable  the  worshippers  to  discharge  these  duties 
aright.  It  would  be  hard  indeed  even  to  conceive  the  possibility 
of  prayers  for  purity  ever  being  offered  in  a  Hindu  temple  to  a 
divinity  surrounded  by  a  bevy  of  dancing-girls.  .  .  .  There  is  no 
such  teaching  of  morality  as  this  by  any  Brahman  or  priest  in  any 
temple  in  all  India.  Hence  we  often  see  religion  going  in  one 
direction  and  morality  in  another.  We  meet  with  a  moral  Hindu 
who  has  broken  altogether  away  from  religion,  and,  what  is  still 
more  conmaon,  yet  still  more  extraordinary,  we  meet  with  a  devout 
Hindu  who  lives  a  flagrantly  immoral  life.  In  the  latter  case  no 
person  sees  any  inconsistency  between  the  immorality  and  the 
devoutness.  Christianity,  on  the  other  hand,  unites  morality  to 
religion  by  an  indissoluble  bond.  It  teaches  that  the  right  dis- 
charge of  our  duties  to  our  fellow-men  is  an  essential  portion  of  the 
duty  we  owe  to  God,  and  that  the  very  purpose  for  which  Christ 
came  into  the  world  was '  that  He  might  redeem  us  from  all  in- 
iquity, and  purify  unto  Himself  a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of 
good  works.' " 


NOTES  83 

NOTE  B   (p.  22). 

Obstacles  to  Commercial  Development  in  Indli. 

"Let  me  turn  for  a  moment  to  their  commercial  life.  What 
is  it  which  so  contracts  the  limits  of  native  enterprise,  and  so  hin- 
ders the  development  of  those  resources  which  the  country  un- 
doubtedly possesses,  but  the  development  of  which  is  confined  at 
present  almost  wholly  to  English  capital  and  English  energy? 
There  are,  I  believe,  two  chief  causes.  On  the  one  hand,  while 
the  actual  wealth  of  the  country  has,  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted, 
considerably  increased,  the  sense  of  public  credit,  the  kind  of  trust 
which  is  an  absolute  condition  of  all  commercial  enterprise  and 
all  banking  operations,  is  almost  wholly  lacking,  and  the  money  is 
accordingly  hoarded  away  in  the  earth,  and  only  borne  witness  to 
by  the  profuse  masses  of  gold  and  silver  jewellery  which  load  their 
women  on  all  great  occasions.  A  recent  writer  in  India  estimates 
the  amount  of  bullion  which  during  the  last  forty  years  has  entered 
the  country  and  been  disposed  of  in  the  above  manner,  leaving 
scarcely  a  trace  of  itseK  in  the  quarters  where  one  would  be  certain 
to  find  it  in  England,  at  about  350  millions  sterling  [1,750  millions 
of  dollars].  And  similar  in  kind  is  the  chief  cause  which  so  limits 
the  development  of  the  trade  and  resources  of  the  country.  So 
deeply  does  the  spirit  of  distrust  pervade  the  commercial  classes 
that  all  enterprise  involving  the  cooperation  of  others  is  shrunk 
from,  and  even  that  partnership  in  business  so  universal,  so  essen- 
tial among  ourselves,  is  with  rare  exceptions  unknown  to  them, 
and  in  fact  scarcely  possible.  A  man  can  trust  only  himself.  He 
would  never  believe  that  his  partner  if  really  left  to  himself  would 
act  honestly,  or  give  him  his  true  share  of  the  profits;  consequently 
almost  every  business  is  owned  by  one  man,  at  most  by  two  or 
more  brothers.  How  this  fetters  the  development  of  trade,  how 
impossible  it  makes  undertakings  on  any  large  scale,  you  can 
readily  imagine."— T/ie  East  and  the  West,  April,  1903,  p.  129. 


84  NOTES 

NOTE  C  (p.  48). 
The  use  of  ncffrsueiv  in  the  N.  T. 

(1)  Ttiffzeuetv  followed  by  ort  means  to  believe  that  the  fact 

stated  is  true.  e.g.  ore  ffh  el  o  ^ptffvd^,  6  olu^  rod  Oeou, 
6  eig  rov  xofTfiov  ipyo[xBvn<$.      John  xi.  27,  cx)mp.  xx.  31. 

on  ^It](7ou<s  CLTzidavs  xaX  dvifftr).      1  Thess.  iv,  14. 

Stc  6  8ed<s  el?  iffrt.      James  ii.  19. 

on  iffzi^  y.ai  ro'ti  ix^rjzouffiv  aurov  fiiffdanodoTTjg 
yiverai.      Heb.  xi.  6. 

(2)  Tciffzsosiv  followed  by  the  dative  means  to  believe  a  person 

or  a  statement,  to  accept  either  as  trustworthy. 
e.g.  ei  yap   i-tffzeuere    Mojoffel  iTZCffrsuere  av  i[xoi^  ei 

de  Tol^  ixsiwou  ypdfifiaffiv  oo  Trifrrsoere^    tto;?  to?? 

^fiolg  pTJfiaffc  TtiffTsoffere  ;   John  v.  46,  47. 
i7CtffT£U(T£   de   \i[ipad[x  r<p  Osw.      James  ii.  23,  Rom. 

iv.  3,  Gal.  iii.  6  (from  Gen.  xv.  6) . 
Comp.  Mark.  xvi.  13,  14,  1  John  iv.  1. 

(3)  TztGT£0£iv   followed   by   er?   means  more  than  this;    it  in- 

volves self-surrender  to  him  in  whom  we  believe,  and  so 
leads  to  union  with  him,  and  to  the  consequences  that  flow 
therefrom. 

e.g.  6  TtcffTsijwv  ££?  ifie,  xav  (XTZoOdvrjy  C^Verar  xa\  Tra? 
o  Cttiv  xai  TZKTTsbiov   e:?   k[ik  oo  fiij  d-nddvYj  ei<^  rov 
aidtva.       John    xi.  25,  26.      So    very   frequently    in 
St.  John's  Gospel. 
ijfjLs'i?   ££?  Jiptffrdv  ^Irjffoov   imffreuffapLSv^  ha   dtxatu)- 
daJpLsv  ix  ■Kcffrew?  Xptazoo.      Gal.  ii.  16. 
As  distinguished  from  ttkttsusiv  el?  perhaps  Tzitrreuecv    ^ttc' 
with  the  accusative  suggests  the  idea  of  being  directed  towards 
[e.g.  Acts  ix.   42,  xi.  17,  xvi.  31,  xxii.  19;  Rom.  iv.  5,  24],  and 
Tziffreueiv   kizi  with  the  dative,  resting  upon  some  solid  foun- 
dation (the  Rock)  [e.g.  1  Pet.  ii.  6,  Rom.  ix.  33,  x.  11  (from  Isa. 
xxviii.  16),  Rom.  iv.  18,  1  Tim.  i.  16].     The    relation    in   tni  is 
external,  in  di  internal. — Westcott,  Hebrews  vi.  2,  p.  145. 


NOTES  85 

Lightfoot  says,  "The  phrase  Tztffreustv  e/?  or  irzi  rtva  is  pe- 
culiarly Christian.  The  constructions  of  theLXX  are  Trtfjrsuztv 
rcvc,  rarely  -tffrsueiv  iizc  rr^c  or  e>  tul  (and  iTzi  rtva  only  in 
Wisd.  xii.  2).  The  phrase  which  occurs  in  the  revised  Nicene 
and  other  creeds,  mffreusiv  eig  hxXTjtrca'^^  though  an  intelligi- 
ble, is  yet  a  lax  expression,  the  propriety  of  which  was  rightly 
disputed  by  many  of  the  fathers,  who  maintained  that  tt^^- 
Tsuecv  eig  should  be  reserved  for  belief  in  God  or  in  Christ." 
Gdatians,  ii.  16,  p.  115. 

"With  this  fulness  of  faith  on  a  Divine  Person  (jzLtTreusiv  el<s) 
must  be  compared  the  different  partial  activities  of  faith.  He  who 
believes  in  the  revealed  Person  believes  the  whole  revelation  about 
Him  {Tziffzeoeiv  rip  ovofxart,  1  John  iii.  23),  and  definite  points 
in  that  revelation  to  be  true  (-t<TT£ueiv  art,  1  John  v.  1,  5);  and 
also  believes  Him  {rudTeberi  fioi,  John  xiv.  11)." — Westcott, 
The  Historic  Faith,  Note  II,  p.  178. 

As  regards  the  English  translation  of  Trtffrsuscv  si?,  the 
A.V.  varies  between  "in"  and  "on,"  apparently  without  follow- 
ing any  principle.  See  e.g.  John  ii.  23,  "in,"  ii.  11,  "on";  vii.  5, 
"in,"  vii.  31,  38,  39,^48,  "on";  Gal.  ii.  16,  "in,"  Phil.  i.  29,  "on." 
In  1  John  V.  10,  the  A.V.  ignores  the  preposition,  "believeth 
not  the  record." 

The  R.V.  always  has  "on,"  except  in  John  xiv.  1,  where  with 
the  A.V.  it  has  "  m."     (Why  here  only  ?) 

By  the  use  of  "on"  for  £i^,  the  R.V.  lost  the  possibility  of  dis- 
tinguishing between  ei"?  and  irrc,  which  might  have  been 
marked  by  "in"  and  "on"  respectively,  i^^i  with  the  accusa- 
tive it  always  translates  "on."  The  A.V.  in  Acts  ix.  42  has  "in." 
iTzi  with  the  dative  is  translated  "on"  by  both  A.V.  and  R.V., 
except  in  Rom.  iv.  18,  where  both  have  "in,"  and  in  Luke  xxiv. 
25,  where  A.V.  ignores  the  preposition  ("believe  all"),  and  R.V. 
has  "on,"  with  "after"  in  the  margin.  This  last  suggestion  may 
perhaps  give  the  key  to  both  these  passages,  in  neither  of  which 
■niffzeusiv  need  be  understood  as  governing  i~{  and  the  dative, 


86  NOTES 

but  is  used  absolutely,  the  ^7:'iXnt3t  and  in}  Ttdfftv  ol?  iXdXrjffav 
stating  the  ground  or  basis  of  belief. 

Mark  i.  15  is  the  only  certain  case  of  ntffTsuetv  with  ^v.  John 
iii.  15  should  probably  be  translated  as  in  R.V.,  "in  Him"  going 
with  "hath,"  rather  than  with  "believeth." 

TCiffTeuetv  with  a  dative  should  be  translated  simply  "be- 
lieve" (Him).  A.V.  inserts  "on"  in  John  v.  24,  viii.  31,  1  John 
iii.  23.    In  this  last  case  R.V.  inserts  "in." 


NOTE    D    (pp.  6,5<?). 
The  use  of  niffrtg  m  N.  T. 

"In  the  New  Testament  TrcVrre?  is  found  in  both  its  passive 
and  its  active  sense.  On  the  one  hand  it  is  used  for  constancy, 
trustworthiness,  whether  of  the  inunutable  purpose  of  God,  Rom. 
iii.  3,  or  of  good  faith,  honesty,  uprightness  in  men,  Matt,  xxiii.  23. 
On  the  other  hand,  as  'faith,'  'belief,'  it  assumes  in  the  teaching 
of  our  Lord,  enforced  and  explained  by  St.  Paul,  the  foremost 
place  in  the  phraseology  of  Christian  doctrine.  From  this  latter 
sense  are  derived  all  those  shades  of  meaning  by  which  it  passes 
from  the  abstract  to  the  concrete;  from  faith,  the  subjective  state, 
to  the  faith,  the  object  of  faith,  the  Gospel  and  sometimes,  it 
would  appear,  the  embodiment  of  faith,  the  Church  (Gal.  i.  23, 
iii.  22-26,  vi.  10)."— Lightfoot,  Galatians,  p.  157. 

For  the  objective  use  of  ij  ttcVtc?  as  "the  faith,"  the  truth  com- 
municated to  and  accepted  by  the  Christian  Church,  see  e.g. 
Rev.  ii.  13,  xiv.  12,  Jude  3,  20,  James,  ii.  1,  1  Tim.  i.  19,  iii.  9, 
iv.  6,  and  commonly  in  the  Pastoral  Epistles,  Acts,  vi.  7,  1  Cor. 
xvi.  13,  Eph.  iv.  13,  Phil.  i.  27,  Col.  i.  23. 

The  use  of  7zi(Tri<s  followed  by  its  object  is  more  varied  than 
that  of  the  verb  nKTzeoo). 

Like  7:t(TT£uw  it  is  followed  by  ei*? — ^with  Oeov  or  Xpifftov  Acts 

XX.  21,  xxiv.  24,  xxvi.  18,  Col.  ii.  5,  1  Pet.  i.  21.     For  some 

reason  both  R.V.  and  A.V.  translate  e;?  in  the  first  of  these 

passages  "toward,"  instead  of,  as  in  all  the  other  instances,  "in"; 

5 


NOTES  87 

and  by  ini  with  the  accusative  in  Heb.  vi.  1,  where  both  versions 
have  "toward." 

Also  by  7r/)09  (rdv  6e6v)  1  Thess.  i.  8,  where  both  versions 
have  "to  God-ward." 

And  by  h  (Xptffzw),  Gal.  iii.  26,  Eph.  i.  15,  Col.  i.  4,  1  Tim. 
iii.  13,  2  Tim.  i.  13,  iii.  15,  and  iv  r<p  aoroo  alixari  Rom.  iii.  25. 
In  both  Gal.  iii.  26  and  Rom.  iii.  25,  the  R.V.  does  not  regard 
the  h  as  following  ■n:i(jri<;. 

And  by  a  genitive,  Ssoo  Mark  xi.  22,  ^l-qcfoo  Rom.  iii.  22,  26, 
Gal.  ii.  16,  iii.  22,  Eph.  iii.  12,  Phil.  iii.  9,  too  dv6[iaTo<i  anrou 
Acts  iii.  16,r^s'  ivepyeta?  0£du,  Col.  ii.  2,  aX-qOeiaq,  2  Thess.  ii. 
13.  In  all  these  cases  except  the  last  the  R.V.  translates  "in," 
the  A.V.  frequently  "of."  In  2  Thess.  ii.  13,  both  translate 
"of,"  but  with  the  same  meaning.  The  instances  of  Tzcarti 
"Ifjffou  may  be  subjective,  the  faith  which  He  manifested. 

NOTE    E    (p.  53). 

J.  S.  Mill  on   Moral  Sources  of   Erroneous   Opinions. 

The  moral  sources  of  erroneous  opinions  "may  be  classed  under 
two  general  heads:  Indifference  to  the  attainment  of  truth,  and 
Bias."  These  moral  causes  of  opinions,  though  with  most  per- 
sons the  most  powerful  of  all,  are  but  remote  causes:  they  act 
indirectly  through  the  intellect,  as  predisposing  causes  of  error. 
"Indifference  to  truth  .  .  .  operates  by  preventing  the  mind  from 
collecting  the  proper  evidences,  or  from  applying  to  them  the  test 
of  a  legitimate  and  rigid  induction;  by  which  omission  it  is  ex- 
posed unprotected  to  the  influence  of  any  species  of  apparent 
evidence  which  offers  itself  spontaneously,  or  which  is  elicited  by 
that  smaller  quantity  of  trouble  which  the  mind  may  be  willing  to 
take."  Bias  makes  a  man  "shrink  from  the  irksome  labour  of  a 
rigorous  induction,  when  he  has  a  misgiving  that  its  results  may 
be  disagreeable;  and  in  such  examination  as  he  does  institute,  it 
makes  him  exert  that  which  is  in  a  certain  measure  voluntary,  his 
attention,  unfairly,  giving  a  larger  share  of  it  to  the  evidence  which 
seems  favourable  to  the  desired  conclusion,  a  smaller  to  that  which 


88  NOTES 

seems  unfavourable."     System  of  Logic,  Bk.  V,  "On  Fallacies," 
ch.  I,  sec.  3.     (People's  Edition,  pp.  482,  483.) 

The  writer  of  an  article  in  the  Hibbert  Journal  for  October, 
1905,  on  "Inadequate  Grounds  of  Belief"  (Dr.  J.  Ellis  McTag- 
gart),  concludes  by  asking,  "Is  there,  then,  no  moral  element 
involved  in  belief  in  religious  dogma  ?  I  believe  that  to  acquire 
true  belief  in  religious  dogma  does  require  moral  qualities — in 
almost  every  case — in  the  searcher.  But  they  are  required,  not  to 
show  us  what  the  truth  is — for  that  purpose  they  seem  to  me  as 
useless  to  the  philosopher  as  to  the  accountant — but  to  prevent 
our  turning  away  from  the  truth.  In  the  first  place,  a  man  will 
scarcely  arrive  at  truth  in  these  questions  without  courage.  For 
he  must  seek  before  he  can  find,  and  at  the  beginning  of  his  search 
he  cannot  tell  what  he  will  find.  And  he  will  also  need — unless 
he  is  most  incredibly  fortunate — a  certain  form  of  faith.  He  will 
need  the  power  to  trust  the  conclusions  which  his  reason  has 
deliberately  adopted,  even  when  circumstances  make  such  a  belief 
especially  difficult  or  painful."     (P.  139.) 

NOTE  F  (p.  64). 

Inward  Witness  to  the  Truth  of  the  Gospel. 

"The  Bible  seems  to  say:  God  is  not  a  hard  master  to  require 
belief,  without  affording  grounds  for  believing;  only  follow  your 
own  sense  of  right,  and  you  will  gain  from  that  very  obedience  to 
your  Maker,  which  natural  conscience  enjoins,  a  conviction  of  the 
truth  and  power  of  that  Redeemer  whom  a  supernatural  message 
has  revealed;  do  but  examine  your  thoughts  and  doings;  do  but 
attempt  what  you  know  to  be  God's  will,  and  you  will  most 
assuredly  be  led  on  into  all  the  truth:  you  will  recognize  the  force, 
meaning,  and  awful  graciousness  of  the  Gospel  Creed;  you  will 
bear  witness  to  the  truth  of  one  doctrine,  by  your  own  past  experi- 
ence of  yourselves ;  of  another,  by  seeing  that  it  is  suited  to  your 
necessity;  of  a  third,  by  finding  it  fulfilled  upon  your  obeying  it." 
—Newman's  Parochial  and  Plain  Sermons,  vol.  VIII,  p.  120. 


NOTES  89 

NOTE  G  (p.  76). 

Lecky  on  Intuitive  Moral  PERCEPnoN. 

The  upholders  of  the  theory  of  intuitive  moral  conceptions 
contend  for  two  propositions:  (1)  "Thefirst  isthat  our  will  is  not 
moved  exclusively  by  the  law  of  pleasure  and  pain,  but  also  by  the 
law  of  duty,  which  we  feel  to  be  distinct  from  the  former,  and  to 
carry  with  it  the  sense  of  obligation.  (2)  The  second  is  that  the 
basis  of  our  conception  of  duty  is  an  instinctive  perception  that 
among  the  various  feelings,  tendencies,  and  impulses  that  consti- 
tute our  emotional  being,  there  are  some  which  are  essentially  good 
and  ought  to  be  encouraged,  and  some  which  are  essentially  bad, 
and  ought  to  be  repressed.  They  contend  that  it  is  a  psycho- 
logical fact  that  we  are  intuitively  conscious  that  our  benevolent 
affections  are  superior  to  our  malevolent  ones,  truth  to  falsehood, 
justice  to  injustice,  gratitude  to  ingratitude,  chastity  to  sensuality, 
and  that  in  all  ages  and  countries  the  path  of  virt  le  has  been 
toward  the  higher  and  not  toward  the  lower  feelings." — Lecky 's 
History  of  European  Morals,  vol.  I,  p.  102. 


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